(A) Abandonment of service. A grantee may not discontinue the provision of cable service without having first given three months written notice to the city.
(B) System removal after abandonment, termination, or forfeiture.
(1) In the event of termination or forfeiture of the franchise or abandonment of the system, the city may require the grantee to remove all or any portion of its system from all rights-of-way and public property within the city; provided, however, that the grantee will not be required to remove its system to the extent it lawfully provides non-cable services over the system.
(2) If the grantee has failed to commence removal of its system, or such part thereof as was designated by the city, within 120 days after written demand for removal is given, or if the grantee has failed to complete such removal within 12 months after written demand for removal is given, the city may apply funds secured by the franchise toward removal.
(C) Sale or transfer of franchise.
(1) No sale or transfer of ownership of a grantee or “fundamental corporate change” in a grantee as defined in M.S. § 238.083, as it may be amended from time to time, nor sale of transfer of a franchise, is permitted without city approval. Any sale or transfer of stock in a grantee creating a new controlling interest constitutes a sale or transfer of ownership. A “controlling interest” includes majority stock ownership or a lesser amount sufficient to confer actual working control in whatever manner exercised. City approval shall not be required where a grantee grants a security interest in its franchise or system to secure an indebtedness.
(2) A grantee must file a written request with the city prior to any transaction described above. The city will approve or deny a transfer request within 120 days of receipt of a written request. The city will not unreasonably withhold its approval.
(3) In no event will a transaction be approved unless any proposed new grantee becomes a signatory to, and assumes all rights and obligations under, the franchise.
(4) In the event a grantee has received a bona fide offer for purchase of its system, the city shall have the right to purchase the system for the same price and under equivalent conditions which the proposed assignee or transferee agreed to pay. The city will be deemed to have waived its right to purchase the system in the following circumstances:
(a) The city does not notify the grantee in writing, within 60 days of notice, that it intends to exercise its right of purchase; or
(b) The city approves the transaction.
(Ord. 711, passed 2-11-2019)