Sec. 7B-29. Applications for licenses or franchises.
   (a)   Any person submitting a proposal in response to the city's request for proposals shall provide all information required by this chapter and all other information as may be solicited in the city's request for proposals or otherwise required by the city. Each proposal shall be responsive to the questions soliciting the information and shall completely, accurately and materially supply all of the information so solicited. Any misrepresentation, failure, neglect or refusal to provide any of such information may at the option of the city render a proposal invalid and it may be given no consideration. The requested information must be complete and verified as true by the applicant.
   (b)   All proposals received by the city from the applicants shall become the sole property of the city.
   (c)   The city reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive all informalities where the best interest of the city may be served.
   (d)   Before submitting a proposal, each applicant shall be solely responsible for and must: (1) examine this chapter and the request for proposal documents thoroughly; (2) be familiar with local conditions that may in any manner affect performance under the license or franchise, including but in no event limited to relevant demographics, topographics, pole attachment policies of appropriate utility authorities, undergrounding, and subscriber and user desires; (3) be familiar with federal, state and local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations affecting performance under the license or franchise; and (4) carefully correlate all observations with the requirements of this chapter and the request for proposal documents.
   (e)   The city may make such investigations as it deems necessary to determine the ability of the applicant to perform under the license or franchise agreement, and the applicant shall furnish to the city all such information and date for this purpose as the city may request. The city reserves the right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by or investigation of such applicant fails to satisfy the city that such applicant is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the license or franchise agreement, to comply with the provisions of this chapter, or to satisfactorily construct and operate the system. Conditional proposals shall not be accepted.
   (f)   Application fees.
   (1)   In addition to any franchise fees, and notwithstanding any other requirement of this chapter, each applicant must furnish with its proposal a nonrefundable filing fee in the amount of seventy-five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) by certified or cashiers check made payable to the city. No proposal for a license or franchise shall be considered without receipt of such check.
   (2)   All checks received will be deposited to an account of the city and will serve to recover all expenses incurred by the city in the preparation and granting of the license or franchise, the execution of the license or franchise agreement and regulation of the licensee or franchisee pursuant to this chapter. Such expenses shall include but not be limited to any and all publication costs, consultant's expenses and the reasonable value of services performed by the city's employees, agents or contractors.
   (3)   In the event that the city's expenses in connection with the application and selection process exceed the total amount of filing fees collected from the applicants, the applicant awarded the license or franchise shall pay to the city (pro rata in the event more than one (1) applicant is awarded a license or franchise) the excess amount, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) within sixty (60) days of demand by the city.
   (g)   Application for a license or franchise pursuant to this chapter constitutes a consent by the applicant to the surrendering of any and all preexisting licenses or franchises for the provision of any aspect of competitive telecommunications services previously granted by the city. Upon the granting of a license or franchise pursuant to this chapter, the applicant shall forthwith surrender any and all such existing licenses or franchises to the city, and any and all such licenses or franchises shall be superceded by the license or franchise granted pursuant to this chapter.
   (h)   Any and all decisions of the mayor and council concerning licensee or franchisee selection shall be final.
(Ord. No. 8522, § 1, 6-12-95; Ord. No. 8545, § 12, 7-10-95)