An RFP for the grant of a franchise, including for a franchise renewal shall require, and any application submitted shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:
(A) Name and address of the applicant and identification of the ownership and control of the applicant, including: the names and addresses of all persons with more than a 10% ownership interest in the applicant and all persons in control of the applicant and/or the operations or system of the applicant; and any other business affiliation and cable system ownership interest of each named person;
(B) A demonstration of the applicant’s technical ability to construct and/or operate the proposed or existing cable system, including identification of key personnel and their cable television experience;
(C) A demonstration of the applicant’s legal qualifications to construct and/or operate the proposed or existing cable system, including, but not limited to, a demonstration that the applicant meets the following criteria:
(1) The applicant has not had any cable television franchise validly revoked by any franchising authority within three years preceding the submission of the application. If any revocation action is pending, it must be identified and explained;
(2) The applicant has the necessary authority under state law to operate a cable system;
(3) The applicant has authority to hold the franchise as a matter of federal law. An applicant must have, or show that it is qualified to obtain, any necessary federal franchises or waivers required to operate the proposed or existing cable system;
(4) The applicant and its key personnel have not, at any time during the ten years preceding the submission of the application, been convicted of any criminal act or omission or civil violation of such character that the applicant cannot be relied upon to comply substantially with its lawful obligations under applicable law, including obligations under consumer protection laws and laws prohibiting anti-competitive acts, fraud, racketeering or other similar conduct. This criteria can be met by submission of a statement that there are no convictions, or by submission of a list reflecting that all convictions are of a minor nature;
(5) The applicant has not filed materially misleading information in its application or intentionally withheld information that the applicant lawfully is required to provide; and
(6) No elected official or employee of the county holds a controlling interest in the applicant or an affiliate of the applicant, or has received any promise of such an interest, or has received any gratuity, commission, percentage, brokerage or contingency fee or other compensation for issuance or renewal of a franchise, or promise thereof.
(D) A statement prepared by a certified public accountant regarding the applicant’s financial ability to complete any proposed construction and to operate the proposed or existing cable system;
(E) A description of the applicant’s prior experience in cable system ownership, construction, and operation and identification of communities in which the applicant or any of its affiliates have, or have had, a cable franchise or franchise or any interest therein;
(F) Identification of the area of the county to be served by the proposed cable system, including a description of the proposed franchise area’s boundaries;
(G) A detailed description of existing and any proposed physical facilities, including channel capacity, technical design, performance characteristics, headend and access facilities;
(H) A description of any promised construction including an estimate of plant mileage and its location; the proposed construction schedule;
(I) A description, where appropriate, of how services will be converted from existing facilities to new facilities;
(J) A demonstration of how the applicant will reasonably meet the future cable-related needs and interests of the community, including descriptions of how the applicant will meet or disagrees with the needs described in any recent community needs assessment conducted by or for the county;
(K) A description of public, educational and governmental access facilities to be provided;
(L) If the applicant proposes to provide cable service to an area already served by an existing franchisee, the identification of the area where the overbuild would occur, the potential subscriber density in the area that would encompass the overbuild, and the ability of the public rights-of-way and other property that would be used by the applicant to accommodate an additional system;
(M) Any other information as may be reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this chapter;
(N) Information that the county may reasonably request of the applicant that is relevant to the county’s consideration of the application;
(O) An affidavit or declaration of the applicant or authorized representative certifying the truth, accuracy and completeness of the information in the application, acknowledging the enforceability of application commitments upon acceptance through the granting of a franchise, and certifying that the application is consistent with all federal, state and local laws; and
(P) Applicants for renewals may refer to prior applications as long as they submit such updated information as required to make the application current.
(1993 Code, § 72.043) (Ord. 96-12, passed 10-16-1996)