(A) No person or entity, other than the city, shall be permitted to construct, operate, or maintain a cable system where any part of the cable system’s facilities to occupy or cross public ways without first having entered into a franchise.
(B) With respect to all franchises.
(1) The city may award one or more non-exclusive franchises; provided, however, any time a franchise is issued; the city otherwise grants a permit to a video programming provider, which contains terms that are more favorable to a particular cable operator or video programming provider; or the city constructs, operates, or maintains its own cable system within the city limits, then the city shall, within 30 days of a written request from another cable operator or video programming provider, modify that cable operator’s franchise or video programming provider authorization to insure that the obligations applicable to any one cable operator or video programming provider are no more burdensome than those imposed on one or more competing cable operators or video programming providers or the city’s own cable system. If the city fails to make modifications consistent with this requirement, the requesting cable operator’s franchise or video programming provider’s authorization shall be deemed so modified 30 days after the initial written request.
(2) An applicant shall be selected as part of a public proceeding and hearing which affords due process to both the city and the cable operator. If the applicant is selected as a cable operator, then the applicant will enter into a franchise agreement with the city.
(3) Unless prohibited by law, the city reserves the right to construct, operate, or maintain its own cable system within the city limits, provided the city shall regulate all cable operators, video programming providers, and its own cable system in a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory manner.
(4) If the City Council awards a franchise to an applicant, or approves a proposal for renewal of a franchise, then a franchise agreement shall be signed. A newly franchised cable operator may not lay any cable until the franchise agreement is executed by the cable operator and the city. At a minimum, a franchise agreement shall contain provisions for the following:
(a) The term or duration of the franchise;
(b) An agreement to comply with this article;
(c) Any applicable construction, upgrade, or rebuild schedule; and
(d) Any applicable build-out and density standard.
(5) Upon entering into a franchise, a cable operator may construct, install, maintain, operate, repair, replace, remove, or restore a cable system within the city. In so doing:
(a) The cable operator may utilize the public ways and those easements dedicated to the public use; and
(b) The cable operator shall be responsible for obtaining its own easements for private property and pole attachment agreements with other utilities.
(6) The term of a franchise may be for a period not to exceed ten years from the date that a franchise, or a franchise renewal, is approved by the City Council. Proceedings for the renewal of a franchise shall be governed by the applicable provisions of the Cable Act.
(Ord. 4245, passed 9-3-2019)