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In making any excavations in any street, alley, or public place, Company, its successors and assigns, shall protect the site while work is in progress by guards, barriers or signals, shall not unnecessarily obstruct the use of the streets, and shall back fill all openings in such manner as to prevent settling or depressions in surface, pavement or sidewalk of such excavations with same materials, restoring the condition as nearly as practical. The Company shall not be required to restore or modify public right of way, sidewalks or other areas in or adjacent to the Company project to a condition superior to its immediate previously existing condition.
The Company shall, at its cost, locate and relocate its existing facilities or equipment in, on, over or under any public street or alley in the City in such a manner as the City may at any time reasonably require for the purposes of facilitating the construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair of the street or alley or any public improvement thereof, in or about any such street or alley or reasonably promoting the efficient operation of any such improvement. If the City requires the Company to relocate facilities in the public right of way that have been relocated at Company expense at the direction of the City during the previous ten years, the reasonable costs of such relocation will be paid by the City.
If the City orders or requests the Company to relocate its existing facilities or equipment for any reason other than as specified above, or as the result of the initial request for a commercial, private or other non-public development, the Company shall receive payment for the cost of such relocation as a precondition to relocating its existing facilities or equipment.
The City shall consider reasonable alternatives in designing its public works projects so as not arbitrarily to cause the Company unreasonable additional expense in exercising its authority under this section. The City shall also provide a reasonable alternative location for the Company's facilities as part of its relocation request.
Vacating a street, avenue, alley, public ground or public right-of-way shall not deprive the Company of its right to operate and maintain existing facilities and their replacements on, below, above or beneath the vacated property. Prior to the City abandoning or vacating any street, avenue, alley, right-of-way or other public ground where the Company has installed gas lines, mains or facilities, the City shall grant the Company a utility easement for said facilities.
Said Company, its successors and assigns, shall throughout the term of the franchise distribute to all consumers gas of good quality and shall furnish uninterrupted service, except as interruptible service may be specifically contracted for with consumers; provided, however, that any prevention of service caused by fire, act of God or unavoidable event or accident shall not be a breach of this condition if the Company resumes service as quickly as is reasonably practical after the happening of the act causing the interruption.
There is hereby imposed a franchise fee of one percent (1%) upon the gross revenue generated from sales of natural gas by the Company within the corporate limits of the City. The franchise fee shall become effective October 1, 2017; provided, however, that such fee shall increase to three percent (3%) effective October 1, 2018; to five percent (5%) effective October 1, 2019. The Company shall begin collecting the franchise fee upon receipt of written approval of the required tax rider tariff from the Iowa Utilities Board.
The amount of the franchise fee shall be shown separately on the utility bill to each customer. The Company shall remit franchise fee receipts to the City no more frequently than on or before the last business day of the month following each calendar year quarter.
The Company shall not, under any circumstances be required to return or refund any franchise fees that have been collected from customers and remitted to the City. In the event the Company is required to provide data or information in defense of the City's imposition of franchise fees or the Company is required to assist the City in identifying customers or calculating any franchise fee refunds for groups of or individual customers the City shall reimburse the Company for the expenses incurred by the Company to provide such data or information.
The term of the franchise granted by this Ordinance and the rights granted thereunder shall continue for the period of twenty five (25) years from and after its acceptance by the said Company, as herein provided, except that the City may cancel this franchise on the fifth (5th), tenth (10th), fifteenth (15th) or twentieth (20th) anniversary of the Anniversary Date of this franchise by notifying Company in writing of its desire to do so, said notification to be given within thirty (30) days of the fifth (5th), tenth (10th), fifteenth (15th) or twentieth (20th) anniversary respectively of this franchise. If Company is not notified of the cancellation by the fifth (5th), tenth (10th), fifteenth (15th) or twentieth (20th) anniversary then this franchise shall continue without cancellation until the twenty-fifth (25th) year from and after its acceptance by the said Company, as herein provided. The acceptance shall be filed with the City Clerk within ninety (90) days from passage of this Ordinance.
If any section or provision of this ordinance is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of any other provisions of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid portion or portions and to this end each section and provision of this ordinance is severable.
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