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(A) The franchisee shall, concurrently with its acceptance of this franchise, file with the Town Administrator/Town Clerk and, at all times thereafter, maintain in full force and effect for the term of the franchise or any renewal thereof, at the franchisee’s sole expense, a corporate surety bond in a responsible company licensed to do business in the state and approved by the town, in the amount of $10,000, renewable annually and conditioned upon the faithful performance of the franchisee and in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and upon the further condition that, in the event the franchisee shall fail to comply with any one or more of the provisions of the franchise, there shall be recoverable jointly and severally from the principal and surety of the bond any damages or loss suffered by the town as a result thereof, including the full amount of any compensation, indemnification or cost of removal or abandonment of any property of the franchisee as prescribed hereby, plus a reasonable allowance for attorneys’ fees and costs, up to the full amount of the bond, the condition to be a continuing obligation for the duration of the franchise and any renewal thereof and thereafter until the franchisee has liquidated all of its obligations with the town that may have arisen from the acceptance of the franchise or renewal by the franchisee or from its exercise of any privileges or rights herein granted. The bond shall provide that at least 30 days’ prior written notice of intention not to renew, cancellation or material change be given to the town by filing the same with the Town Administrator/Town Clerk. Notwithstanding the above provisions of this section, the Board of Alderpersons may, in its sole discretion, waive the bond or reduce the required amount thereof after two years of operation of a system under the franchise by the franchisee, its successors or assigns, which, in the sole opinion of the Board of Alderpersons, has been satisfactory. Failure to keep a performance bond in force at all times as herein provided shall constitute an event of default.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-46)
(B) In lieu of the performance bond by a surety company as provided in § 110.144, the franchisee may file and deposit with the Town Administrator/Town Clerk a performance bond without a corporate surety but secured by a certificate of deposit in some bank or savings and loan association in the state, in the sum of $10,000, conditioned in the same manner as the performance bond of a surety company as described in § 110.144. The income from the deposit shall be payable to the franchisee. As an alternative, the franchisee may provide the other security as may be approved by the Board of Alderpersons, but absent the approval, it shall provide a bond or deposit in lieu thereof as above provided.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-47) (Ord. passed 9-19-1979)
(A) Right to purchase system. The town shall have the right to purchase the system, as specified elsewhere in this chapter.
(B) Right to inspect records and examine officers and employees. The town shall have the right to inspect all books and records and examine officers and employees as specified in § 110.105.
(C) Right to inspect plans and construction. The town reserves the right, but shall not have the duty, to inspect plans and construction of any facility to be used in connection with the cable system, irrespective of its location.
(D) Right of intervention. The franchisee shall not oppose intervention by the town in any suit or proceeding to which the franchisee is a party.
(E) Right to require removal of property. The town reserves the right, not inconsistent with any other provision of this chapter, to require the franchisee to remove any of its property from publicly owned property at the franchisee’s own expense.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-48) (Ord. passed 9-19-1979)
(A) No monitoring of any terminal connected to the system shall take place without specific written authorization by the user of the terminal in question on each occasion; provided, that the franchisee may provide for system-wide, non-individually addressed “sweeps,” or the franchisee’s acquisition of information for purposes of verifying system integrity, controlling return path transmissions or billing for pay services.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-50)
(B) It shall be unlawful to tape or monitor a system line without authorization from the parties whose communication might be overheard; provided, that the franchisee may provide for system-wide, non-individually addressed “sweeps,” or the franchisee’s acquisition of information for purposes of verifying system integrity, controlling return path transmissions or billing for pay services.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-50) (Ord. passed 9-19-1979) Penalty, see § 110.999
(A) The franchisee shall not, in its rates or charges or in making available the services or facilities of its system, or in its rules or regulations, or in any other respect, make or grant preferences or advantages to any subscriber or potential subscriber to the system and shall not subject any persons to any prejudice or disadvantage. This provision shall not be deemed to prohibit promotional campaigns to stimulate subscriptions to the system or other legitimate uses thereof, nor shall it be deemed to prohibit the establishment of a graduated scale of charges and classified rate schedules to which any customer coming within the classifications shall be entitled.
(B) The entire system of the franchisee shall be operated in a manner consistent with the principle of fairness and equal accessibility of its facilities, equipment, channels, studios and other services to all citizens, businesses, public agencies or other entities having a legitimate use for the system and no one shall be arbitrarily excluded from its use. Allocation of use of the facilities shall be made according to the rules or decisions of regulatory agencies affecting the same and where the rules or decisions are not effective to resolve a dispute between conflicting users or potential users, the matter shall be submitted for resolution to the Town Administrator/Town Clerk, subject to appeal to the Board of Alderpersons.
(C) In the carrying out of the construction, maintenance and operation of the CATV system, the franchisee shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, marital status, age, sex or national origin.
(D) The franchisee shall post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.
(E) The franchisee shall, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the franchisee, state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, sex, marital status, age or national origin.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-50)
(Ord. passed 9-19-1979)
The Board of Alderpersons reserves the option to designate a Regulatory Commission to promote and develop access to the CATV system. Membership, term and functions of that Commission shall be established by resolution when the Board of Alderpersons chooses to exercise the option. In the absence of a Regulatory Commission, the Board of Alderpersons requires of the Town Administrator/Town Clerk performance of the following functions:
(A) Advise the Board of Alderpersons on applications for franchises, unless the Board of Alderpersons shall otherwise provide for the handling of this function;
(B) Advise the Board of Alderpersons on matters which might constitute grounds for revocation of the franchise in accordance with this chapter;
(C) Resolve disagreements among franchisees, subscribers and public and private users of the system. The decisions of the Town Administrator/Town Clerk shall be appealable to the Board of Alderpersons;
(D) Advise the Board of Alderpersons on the regulation of rates in accordance with this chapter. The advisory function shall be in the form of a written report to the Board of Alderpersons, which shall include recommendations to the Board of Alderpersons and the facts upon which the recommendations are based;
(E) Coordinate franchisee and town activities for the best use of public facilities and channels of the system;
(F) Advise the Board of Alderpersons regarding general policy relating to the services provided subscribers and the operation and use of public channels, with a view to maximizing the diversity of programs and services to subscribers. The use of public channels shall be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to limitations on monopolization of system time or prime time;
(G) Require an audit of all franchisee records required by this chapter and, in his or her discretion, require the preparation and filing of information additional to that required herein;
(H) Make an annual report to the Board of Alderpersons, including an account of franchise fees received and distributed, the total number of hours of utilization of public channels and hourly subtotals for various programming categories and a review of any plans submitted during the year by franchisee(s) for development of new services; and
(I) Conduct evaluations of the system at least every five years with the franchisee and, pursuant thereto, make recommendations to the Board of Alderpersons for amendments to this chapter or the franchise agreement.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-51) (Ord. passed 9-19-1979)
(A) A breach by the franchisee of the franchise agreement, in addition to constituting a breach of contract, shall constitute a violation of this chapter. The cost of any litigation incurred by the town to enforce this chapter or the franchise granted pursuant hereto, or the franchise agreement, or any cost in relation thereto, or in relation to the cancellation or termination of a franchise, shall be reimbursed to the town by the franchisee. The costs shall include filing fees, costs of depositions, discovery and expert witnesses, all other expenses of suit and a reasonable attorney’s fee.
(B) Violation of material provisions of this chapter shall subject the franchisee to the following penalties.
(1) Failure of the franchisee to meet performance standards, as determined by the Town Administrator/Town Clerk, to which it has agreed may result in a rebate of rates or charges to subscribers affected; provided, that the Town Administrator/Town Clerk shall provide ten days’ written notice of the failure to the franchisee. Any rebate may be charged to the performance bond.
(2) For failure to provide data and reports as requested by the County Manager or the Board of Alderpersons and as required by this chapter, the penalty shall be $50 per day for each day not delivered. This penalty may be chargeable to the performance bond.
(3) For failure to complete construction and installation of the cable system, unless the Board of Alderpersons approves the delay because of reasons beyond the control of the franchisee, the franchise term may be reduced one year for each three-month period that the system has failed to meet performance standards.
(4) The franchisee may appeal any penalty which it considers unreasonable to the Board of Alderpersons.
(Prior Code, § 4.1-42) (Ord. passed 9-19-1979)