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(A) Within 30 days after acceptance of any franchise, the grantee shall proceed with due diligence to obtain all necessary permits and authorizations which are required in the conduct of its business, including, but not limited, to any utility joint use attachment agreements, microwave carrier licenses, and any other permits, licenses and authorizations to be granted by duly constituted regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the operation of cable television systems, or associated microwave transmissions facilities. In connection therewith, copies of all petitions, applications and communications submitted by the grantee to the Federal Communications Commission or any other federal or state regulatory commission or any agency having jurisdiction in respect to any matters affecting the grantee’s cable television operations, shall also be submitted simultaneously to the Committee.
(B) Within 30 days after obtaining all necessary permits, licenses and authorizations, including right of access to poles and conduits, the grantee shall commence construction and installation of the CATV system.
(C) Within two years after the commencement of construction and installation of the system, the grantee shall complete construction of the facilities needed to permit the reception of broadcast signals, the origination of programming within the village, and the distribution of signals to the franchise area. Provided, however, the Village Council may approve exceptions to this requirement upon a showing by the grantee of undue hardship or expense.
(D) Failure on the part of the grantee to commence and diligently pursue each of the foregoing requirements and to complete each of the matters set forth herein shall be grounds for termination of such franchise.
(E) The grantee shall utilize existing poles, conduits and other facilities whenever possible and shall not construct or install any new, different or additional poles, conduits or other facilities without first securing the written approval of the Committee. Any poles, conduits or other facilities of the grantee to be installed in, under, over, along, across or upon a public street, alley, way or place shall be so located so as to cause minimum interference with the rights of other users of the streets, alleys, ways or places or of property owners who adjoin any of the streets, alleys, ways or places. In the event of disturbance of any public street, alley, place or way by the grantee, it shall, at its own expense, promptly replace and restore such street to as good a condition as before the work causing such disturbance was performed, and to the satisfaction of the Committee.
(F) In all sections of the village where all existing cables or other like facilities of utility companies are presently or subsequently placed underground, the grantee shall place its cables or like facilities underground, at the grantee’s expense.
(G) The village shall have the right, free of charge, to make additional use, for any public or municipal purpose, whether governmental or proprietary, of any poles, conduits or other facilities erected, controlled, or maintained exclusively by or for the grantee in any street or other public way or public place, provided such use by the village does not interfere with the use by the grantee.
(H) The grantee shall at the expense of the grantee, protect, support, temporarily disconnect or temporarily relocate any property of the grantee when, in the opinion of the Committee, the same is required by reason of street construction, change or establishment of street grade, installation of sewers, drains, waterpipes, power lines or signal lines.
(I) In the event the use of any part of the system of the grantee is discontinued for any reason for a continuous period of 30 days, without prior written notice to and approval by the Committee, or in the event any part of such system has been installed in any street or other area without complying with the requirements hereof, or in the event any franchise shall be terminated, cancelled or shall expire, the grantee shall, at the option of the village, and at the expense of the grantee and at no expense to the village, promptly remove from any street or other area all property of the grantee and the grantee shall promptly restore the street or other area from which such property has been removed to such condition as the Committee shall approve; provided the Village Council may, upon written application therefore by the grantee; approve the abandonment of any such property in place by the grantee and under such terms and conditions as the Village Council may prescribe; and upon abandonment of any such property in place, the grantee shall cause to be executed, acknowledged and delivered to the village such instruments as shall be approved by the Committee, conveying the ownership of such property to the village.
(J) Upon the failure, refusal or neglect of the grantee to cause any work or other act required by law or by this subchapter to be completed in, on, over or under any street within any time prescribed therefor, or upon notice given, where notice is prescribed, the Committee may cause such work or other act to be completed in whole or in part, and upon so doing shall submit to the grantee an itemized statement of the costs thereof, and the grantee shall, within 30 days after receipt of such statement, pay unto the village the entire amount thereof.
(Ord. 77, passed 8-6-1981)
(A) General rules. The CATV system of a grantee receiving a franchise shall:
(1) Be capable of relaying to subscriber terminals television and radio broadcast signals;
(2) Be constructed with the capability of two-way digital signal transmission;
(3) Distribute color television signals which it receives;
(4) Be constructed and operated so as not to interfere with the television reception of persons not served by the grantee and so as not to interfere with, obstruct or hinder in any manner the operation of any utility serving the village;
(5) Provide at least one channel, without charge, for exclusive use of the village and other governmental agencies;
(6) Provide at least one channel, without charge, for use by the public school system; provided, however, the Village Council may waive this requirement at the time a franchise is granted if the franchise so granted provides for the addition of said channel by the grantee at the request of the Village Council, after the Village Council has determined there is a demand for said channel; and
(7) Provide at least one channel as a public access channel for use by civic groups and interested citizens; provided, however, the Village Council may waive this requirement at the time a franchise is granted if the franchise so granted provides for the addition of said channel by the grantee at the request of the Village Council, after the Village Council has determined there is a demand for said channel.
(B) Additional services. The cable television system may also engage in the business of:
(1) Transmitting original cablecast programming not received through television broadcast signals;
(2) Transmitting television pictures, film and videotape programs, not received through broadcast television signals, whether or not encoded or processed to permit reception by only selected receivers or subscribers; and/or
(3) Transmitting and receiving all other signals: digital, voice and audio-visual.
(C) Refusal of service. No person, firm or corporation within the service area of the grantee, and where trunk lines are in place, shall be refused service; provided, however, that the grantee shall not be required to provide service to any subscriber who does not pay the applicable connection fee or service charges.
(D) Service standards. The grantee shall:
(1) Correct malfunctions promptly but in no event later than 24 hours after occurrence; in the event it should be impossible or impractical to correct any malfunctions within 24 hours, then each subscriber whose reception is so disrupted shall receive a rebate from the grantee in the amount of one thirtieth of such subscriber’s monthly charge for every additional 24-hour period that said subscriber’s television reception is so disrupted, unless said disruption in service was entirely beyond the control of the grantee;
(2) Answer all complaints by subscribers;
(3) Planned interruptions of service, insofar as possible, shall be preceded by a notice given to subscribers 24 hours in advance and shall occur during periods of minimum use of the system;
(4) Maintain an office in the village, which office shall be open during the usual business hours, with a local telephone number listed in directories of the telephone company serving the village, which office shall be so operated that complaints and requests for repairs or adjustments may be received at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, provided, however, that the Village Council may waive the requirement of maintaining an office in the village, if the grantee shall maintain an office in the area, subject to the same standards as if in the village, and provide an agent in the village to receive payments and accept complaints; and
(5) Provide notice of such office, or area office and local agent, and the grantee’s complaint procedure to each subscriber at the time of initial subscription to the system.
(E) Complaint procedures. The Committee shall have primary responsibility for the administration of complaints regarding cable television franchises, and shall adopt procedures to be followed in resolving and processing such complaints.
(F) Content. The grantee shall not send, transmit, retransmit or otherwise pass through its system any material, audio or visual, which is obscene under state or local law or any motion picture which has been rated “X” by the Motion Picture Film Board.
(G) Failure to provide service. Any grantee of any franchise hereunder who shall, within one year after the payment of any installation charge by any subscriber, fail to operate its system or make its system available to such subscriber, on a regular and continuous basis, shall refund the installation charge to such subscriber, together with interest thereon at not less than 5% per year.
(Ord. 77, passed 8-6-1981)
In addition to any other franchise limitations hereunder or as herein provided, the following limitations shall apply to any franchise granted or renewed by the Village Council under this subchapter.
(A) Nature of franchise. Such franchise shall be nonexclusive, and neither the granting thereof nor any of the provisions contained herein or in such franchise shall limit, abridge, diminish, alter or affect the right, privilege, power or authority of the Village Council; and the Village Council hereby reserves and preserves the right to grant any identical or similar or different franchise to any person, firm or corporation other than the grantee, either within or without or partly within or partly without the franchise area of any grantee, subject only to the restrictions provided in § 113.04(A) of this subchapter. No privilege or exemption shall be granted or conferred by any franchise granted hereunder except those specifically prescribed in this subchapter.
(B) Subordination of franchise privileges. The grant of any privilege by any franchise hereunder shall be subordinate to any prior lawful occupancy of any street or public property or to the grant of any privilege under any other franchise of prior date, insofar as there shall be any conflict.
(C) Transfer of franchise. Any franchise granted hereunder shall be a privilege to be held in personal trust by the original grantee. It cannot, in any event, be sold, transferred, leased, assigned or disposed of in whole or in part, either by forced or involuntary sale, or by voluntary sale, merger, consolidation or otherwise without prior written consent of the Village Council, and then only under such conditions as may therein be prescribed.
(1) Notice and request for approval of any proposed sale or transfer of this franchise must be given to the Village Council not later than 90 days before the proposed sale or transfer. Any such transfer or assignment shall be made only by an instrument in writing, such as a bill of sale, or similar document, a duly executed copy of which shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk within 30 days after any such transfer or assignment. The said consent of the Village Council may not be unreasonably refused; provided, however, the proposed assignee must show financial responsibility as determined by the Village Council and must agree to comply with all the provisions of the franchise and of this subchapter; and provided, further, that no such consent shall be required for a transfer in trust, mortgage or otherwise, in whole or in part, to secure an indebtedness, except that when such transfer shall exceed 50% of the market value of the property used by the franchisee in the conduct of the cable television system, prior consent of the Village Council shall be required for such a transfer. Such a consent shall not be withheld unreasonably.
(2) In the event that the grantee is a corporation, prior approval of the Village Council, expressed by resolution, shall be required where there is an actual change in control or where ownership of more than 30% of the voting stock of the grantee is acquired by a person or group of persons acting in concert, none of whom already own 30% or more of the voting stock, singly or collectively.
(D) Term of franchise. No franchise granted or renewed by the Village Council under this subchapter shall be for a term shorter than five years, unless terminated prior to its expiration as herein provided, nor shall any such franchise be granted or renewed for a term longer than 15 years. Any franchise renewal shall be subject to the prior approval of the Village Council utilizing the same procedures as prescribed herein for the granting of a new franchise.
(E) Review of franchise. Every five years after the effective date of the franchise the Council and the grantee shall jointly review the performance of the grantee’s operation and specifically the Village Council will inquire whether the grantee is supplying a level and variety of services equivalent to those being generally offered at the time in the industry, in comparable market situations. In the event that the grantee desires to change or modify its obligations under its franchise, it may negotiate with the Village Council to do so at that time. Within 60 days of the conclusion of the review the Village Council and the grantee shall report in public proceeding the result of their review and their conclusions. The Village Council may then order unilateral changes in the franchise rights and obligations of the grantee where said changes cause no economic impact. Any changes that cause substantial adverse economic impact shall be the subject of negotiations with the grantee. Any disputes hereunder shall be resolved by arbitrators, one selected by each party and the third selected by the other two, whose decision shall be final. The arbitrators are to base their decision on what is fair and equitable to all concerned.
(F) Recourse against village. The grantee shall have no recourse or remedy whatsoever against the village for any loss, cost, expense or damage arising out of or with respect to any franchise hereunder, or this subchapter, or the enforcement thereof.
(G) Village rules and regulations. The grantee shall be subject to all ordinances, rules, regulations and specifications of the village heretofore or hereafter established including but not limited to, those pertaining to works and activities, in, on, over, under and about streets.
(H) Prohibited activities of the grantee. The grantee shall be prohibited from directly or indirectly doing any of the following:
(1) Engaging in the business of selling at retail, leasing, renting, repairing or servicing of television sets or radios;
(2) Soliciting, referring or causing or permitting the solicitation or referral of any subscriber to persons engaged in any business herein prohibited to be engaged in by the grantee;
(3) Providing information concerning the viewing patterns of identifiable individual subscribers to any person, group or organization for any purpose, without the consent of the subscriber;
(4) Entering or encroaching upon or interfering with or obstructing any private property without the express consent of the owner; and
(5) Providing any repair service to its subscribers for a fee, which repair extends beyond the connection of its service or the determination by the grantee of the quality of its signals to the recipients thereof.
(Ord. 77, passed 8-6-1981)
At the time of the granting of any franchise hereunder, the Village Council shall approve and include therein all rates and charges allowable to the grantee, including, but not limited to, all such rates and charges for installation of equipment, service charges for all classifications of service including additional connections at one location and any other rates and charges of the grantee to subscribers. No such rates or charges shall be changed at any time after the granting of a franchise, except by authority of the Village Council, and upon written request by the grantee, provided, that prior to authorizing the change of any rates or charges of the grantee to subscribers, at any time after the granting of such franchise, the Village Council shall first pass its resolution of intention to do so, describing and stating any rates or charges to be changed, the reasons of the Village Council therefor, fixing a day, hour and place certain when and where any persons having an interest therein may appear before the Village Council and be heard and directing the Village Clerk to publish notice of such hearing at least once. The Village Clerk shall cause such notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the village, and the same shall be published and a copy thereof shall be mailed to any grantee hereunder at least ten days prior to the date specified for hearing thereon. At the time set for such hearing, or at any adjournment thereof, the Village Council shall proceed to hear and pass on all presentations made before it, and the decision of the Village Council thereon shall be final and conclusive. If the Village Council shall find that a change of rates or charges is justified by a change in cost of operation, the Village Council shall approve the change in rates.
(Ord. 77, passed 8-6-1981)
(A) The grantee shall at all reasonable times, and to the extent necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter, permit any duly authorized agent or representative of the village to examine all franchise property of the grantee, together with any appurtenant property of the grantee situated within or without the village, and to examine and transcribe any and all maps and other records kept or maintained by the grantee or under the control or direction or at the request of the grantee which appertain to the franchise operations, affairs, transactions or property of the grantee.
(B) The grantee shall prepare and furnish to the Committee, at such times and in such form as prescribed by the Committee, references and materials with respect to the operations, affairs, transactions or property of the grantee as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to the performance of any of the duties of the Committee.
(Ord. 77, passed 8-6-1981)
Failure, refusal, or neglect by the grantee to comply with any requirement herein, or any term or condition of a franchise issued hereunder shall be sufficient cause for termination of any franchise by the village as follows.
(A) Upon the continuing of any such failure, refusal or neglect for a period of ten days, next following written demand by the Committee that the grantee do or comply with any such requirement, limitation, term or condition, the Committee may cause to be placed on the agenda of a regular session of the Village Council its request for termination of such franchise, and in such case, the Committee shall cause to be served upon such grantee, at least 15 days prior to the date of such session of the Village Council, a written notice of its intent to request such termination at the time and place of such session.
(B) At such session of the Village Council, or any adjournment thereof, the Village Council shall consider the request of the Committee and shall hear any persons desiring to be heard, and shall determine whether or not such failure, refusal or neglect by the grantee was with just cause.
(C) If the Village Council shall determine such failure, refusal or neglect by the grantee was without just cause, then the Village Council may pass its resolution declaring that the franchise of such grantee shall be terminated and forfeited unless there is compliance by the grantee within 15 days, and such resolution shall operate to declare such franchise terminated and forfeited on the fifteenth day next following the passage thereof, and without further notice to the grantee, unless the grantee shall so comply within such 15-day period, such termination and forfeiture to become effective for all purposes 180 days thereafter.
(D) Within 180 days after such declaration of termination and forfeiture, the grantee may sell, remove, or transfer the entire system of the grantee, subject to the provisions of § 113.11(C) of this subchapter and upon any such sale or transfer in addition to any other rights hereunder or otherwise, the village shall have a lien (next in order of preference to any liens or encumbrances existing of record on the date of such termination and forfeiture) against any and all proceeds thereof in the full amount of any loss, cost, expense or other financial detriment incurred by the village in the exercise of any right hereunder, or by reason of such termination and forfeiture.
(E) If the grantee shall fail to or refuse to sell, remove or transfer the entire system of the grantee, as hereinabove provided, and regardless of the exercise of any other right of the village hereunder, then the village may institute appropriate court action to enforce requirements of this section.
(Ord. 77, passed 8-6-1981)
RATE REGULATION
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