(A) The City Manager shall have the authority to enter into negotiations subject to the approval of the City Council, that grant one or more persons, subject to the conditions set forth in the contract and this section, the privilege of installing and maintaining pay telephones on the public way. Any such contract must be approved as to form and legality by the City Attorney. The City Manager may at any time cause to be advertised a request for proposals relating to such contracts.
(B) Such contracts and the method of awarding such contracts shall, to the greatest extent possible, be designed to:
(1) Discourage illegal drug sales and other criminal activity that are sometimes associated with and facilitated by pay telephones on the public right-of-way;
(2) Reduce the disturbances that pay telephones may tend to promote in residential areas;
(3) Reduce visual clutter on the public right-of-way;
(4) Reduce the unnecessary obstruction of pedestrian and vehicular traffic;
(5) Ensure the availability of pay telephones where there are needed for lawful purposes;
(6) Provide adequate access to pay telephones by disabled persons; and
(7) Generate revenue for the city.
(C) Any contract entered into pursuant to this section shall provide that the privileges granted by the contract are subject to the City Council's authority to order the removal of a pay telephone pursuant to division (F) of this section. Any such contract shall also permit the City Council or the City Manager to require pay telephones on the public right-of-way to have special features to reduce criminal activity. No person shall be awarded a contract under this section unless the person is in full compliance with all laws of the state, city ordinance, and the rules and regulations of the Michigan Public Service Commission.
(D) No person may install a pay telephone on the public right-of-way on or after the effective date of this section unless the installation is made pursuant to a contract entered into under this section. Beginning October 1, 1993, no pay telephone may remain on the public right-of-way other than pursuant to a contract entered into under this section. Any telephone installed or maintained in violation of this section shall be subject to immediate removal by the city at the owner's expense.
(E) No later than 30 days after the effective date of this section, every person who owns or maintains a pay telephone on the public right-of-way must file with the City Manager a list of the locations of all such telephones owned or maintained by that person. Any pay telephone that does not appear on such a list shall be subject to immediate removal at the owner's expense by the city beginning 31 days after the effective date of this section.
(F) The City Council may at any time by resolution order the removal of a particular pay telephone that is on the public right-of-way. Such a resolution must identify the location of the telephone to be removed. Any pay telephone that is not removed within 14 days after a resolution ordering its removal is adopted shall be subject to immediate removal at the owner's expense by the city.
(G) Any pay telephone removed by the city pursuant to this section may be reclaimed by its owner within 30 days after its removal. The owner must reimburse the city for its removal and storage costs before any such telephone may be reclaimed. Such costs shall also include the cost of removing any installation ancillary to the pay telephone, the costs of restoring the public way to its original condition and any administrative costs that are incurred. Any telephone not so reclaimed by its owner may be disposed of by the city subsequent to 31 days after its removal as unclaimed property.
(H) As used in this section,
PAY TELEPHONE means any self-service coin or credit card operated telephone; and PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY has the legal meaning ascribed to the term.
(I) The City Manager shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations to implement this section.
(J) No provisions of this section or may contract issued pursuant to this section may be applied to any transaction in interstate commerce to the extent to which such business may not, under the constitution and statutes of the United States, be made the subject of regulation by the city.
(Ord. 723, passed 8-16-93) Penalty, see § 10.99