(A) No grantee may discriminate in the build-out of its system to a particular area of the county in providing service to an individual or groups of residents on the basis of race, creed, religion or economic condition. Unless the franchise agreement provides otherwise, every grantee shall serve all areas of the county equally. The grantee shall serve annexed areas with populations of at least 15 residential dwelling units per cable mile as measured from a grantee’s existing distribution system. The franchise agreement shall provide a schedule of the areas to be served, and the specific build-out requirements of the grantee, and shall also describe the process for extending service to areas that will meet minimum density requirements at some future date. Unless the franchise agreement provides otherwise, every grantee shall extend service to commercial areas at no additional costs where the costs to do so does not exceed the same costs of providing service in a residential area.
(B) During the initial construction phase of a new system, a grantee may implement its system in stages pursuant to a schedule and line extension policy established in its franchise agreement that serves all areas of the county equally; provided that, any deviation from the service and line extension requirements of this chapter do not discriminate between different areas of the county on the basis of race, creed, religion or economic condition. A grantee of any such new franchise shall comply with all customer service obligations with respect to customers whose premises are passed by portions of the grantee’s network which are fully activated, tested and available for service.
(C) In annexed areas with less than 15 homes per proposed cable mile, the grantee shall offer a cost-sharing arrangement to residents. The grantee shall bear its pro rata share of the current construction costs based upon the actual number of homes per mile. The cost-sharing arrangement shall consist of the following: on the request of a subscriber desiring service, grantee shall prepare, at its cost, an engineering survey and cost analysis to determine the cost of the plant extension required to provide service to the subscriber from the closest usable point on the cable system. The cost of construction shall be allocated based on the following formula: if a request for extension into a residential area requires the construction of cable plant which does not pass at least 15 homes per cable mile, a proportionate share of construction costs shall be borne by grantee and by the subscribers. For example, if there are ten dwelling units per mile, the grantee’s share will equal 10/15th of the construction cost. The remaining cost will be shared equally by each subscriber in the area to be constructed. The line extension formula shall also be applied to a portion of a cable mile meeting proportionate density requirements. For example, if there are seven dwelling units per one-half mile, the grantee shall construct the plant. The cost sharing described above would be utilized if there were less than the proportionate share of dwelling units per the portion of a mile needed to reach the dwelling units. Should additional subscribers request cable service, subscribers utilizing the cost-sharing plan for extension shall be reimbursed pro-rata for their contribution or a proportional share thereof. In such case, the pro-rata shares shall be recalculated and each new subscriber shall pay the new pro-rata share, and all prior subscribers shall receive refunds. In any event, at the end of 24 months from completion of the project, the subscribers are no longer eligible for refunds, and the amounts paid by subscribers will be credited to the plant account of the grantee. The average cost of the line extension shall be recalculated annually based upon the current costs of labor and material. Each person contributing toward the direct cost of the line extension shall waive all ownership interest in the line extension. All equipment and components of the line extension, including, but not limited to, cable wire, electronics and pedestals shall at all times remain the exclusive property of the grantee.
(Ord. passed 12-19-2005)