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REVOCATION AND FORECLOSURE; RECEIVERSHIP AND ABANDONMENT
§ 115.115 GROUNDS FOR REVOCATION.
   Grantor reserves the right to revoke the franchise, and all rights and privileges pertaining thereto, in the event that:
   (A)   A grantee substantially violates any material provision of this chapter or a franchise agreement;
   (B)   A grantee attempts to evade any of the material provisions of this chapter or a franchise agreement;
   (C)   A grantee practices an act of fraud or deceit upon the grantor;
   (D)   A grantee becomes insolvent, unable or unwilling to pay its debts, or is adjudged bankrupt;
   (E)   A grantee fails to provide or maintain in full force and effect the liability and indemnification coverage or the performance bond as required pursuant to its franchise; or
   (F)   A grantee violates any orders or rulings of any regulatory body having jurisdiction over the grantee relative to this chapter or the franchise and after notice thereof, shall continue the violation and not remedy the same within 60 days.
(Ord. passed - -)
§ 115.116 PROCEDURE.
   (A)   Whenever grantor has reason to believe that there may be grounds for revocation of a franchise, grantor shall first notify the grantee in writing of its basis for believing grounds for revocation exist. That notice shall indicate with reasonable specificity the grounds for revocation that are believed to exist so that the grantee may have a reasonable opportunity to cure or otherwise address the same. If a grantee fails to adequately cure or address the purported grounds for revocation within 30 days of the notice, then the grantor may, upon 30-days’ written notice to the grantee, commence a public administrative hearing to determine whether there exists any ground for revocation.
   (B)   The administrative hearing shall be conducted so as to protect the full due process rights of the parties and provide for, at a minimum, the right to have counsel, the right to call and cross-examine witnesses, and the right to a full transcript of the proceedings.
   (C)   After the close of the hearing, grantor or the designated hearing officer shall issue a written decision based on the record of the proceedings, stating with specificity the findings and reasons supporting the decision.
   (D)   Upon revocation, a grantee shall have a period of 120 days subsequent to the date of the formal adoption of a revocation of the franchise by the town within which to file an appeal with a court of competent jurisdiction.
   (E)   During the appeal period, the franchise shall remain in full force and effect.
(Ord. passed - -)
§ 115.117 FORECLOSURE.
   Upon the foreclosure or other judicial sale of all or a part of a system, a grantee shall notify grantor of that fact and notification shall be treated as a notification that a change in control of the grantee has taken place, and the provisions of this chapter governing the consent to transfer or change in ownership shall apply without regard to how transfer or change in ownership occurred.
(Ord. passed - -)
§ 115.118 RECEIVERSHIP.
   Apart from and supplemental to the right to revoke a franchise, grantor shall have the right to cancel a franchise agreement 120 days after the appointment of a receiver or trustee to take over and conduct the business of a grantee, whether in receivership, reorganization, bankruptcy or other action or proceeding, unless receivership or trusteeship shall have been vacated prior to the expiration of 120 days, or unless:
   (A)   Within 120 days after its election or appointment, the receiver or trustee has fully complied with all the provisions of grantee’s franchise agreement and this chapter and remedied all defaults thereunder; and
   (B)   The receiver or trustee within 120 days has executed an agreement, duly approved by a court having jurisdiction, whereby receiver or trustee assumes and agrees to be bound by each and every provision of this chapter and the applicable franchise agreement.
(Ord. passed - -)
PURCHASE OF SYSTEM; SALE OR TRANSFER
§ 115.130 UPON TERMINATION OF FRANCHISE TERM OR REVOCATION OF FRANCHISE.
   The grantor may, in accordance with and to the extent permitted by 47 U.S.C. § 547, upon the payment of a fair valuation, purchase, condemn, acquire, take over and hold the property and plant of a grantee, in whole or in part, on the following conditions:
   (A)   Upon revocation of a franchise, a fair valuation shall be an equitable value that shall not include any sum attributable to the value of the franchise itself, and plant and property shall be valued according to its book value at the time of revocation, or the system’s initial cost less depreciation and salvage.
   (B)   At the expiration of a franchise agreement and following a denial of renewal of the franchise agreement, a fair valuation shall be the fair market value of the plant and property, exclusive of the value attributed to the franchise itself.
   (C)   In the event grantor shall acquire a franchise pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or a franchise agreement, and commence operation of the system, grantor shall reimburse the grantee for the fair market value of the system.
(Ord. passed - -)
§ 115.131 SALE OR TRANSFER OF FRANCHISE.
   (A)   No grantee shall sell, transfer, lease, assign, sublet or dispose of, in whole or in part, an interest in or control of a franchise or cable system or any of the rights or privileges granted by a franchise agreement without the prior consent of the grantor, which consent shall not be unreasonably denied or delayed and may be denied only upon a good faith finding by the grantor that the proposed transferee lacks the legal, technical or financial qualifications to consummate the transaction and operate the system so as to perform its obligations under this chapter and the applicable franchise agreement. This section shall not apply to sales of property or equipment in the normal course of business. Consent from the grantor shall not be required for a transfer in trust, mortgage or other instrument of hypothecation, in whole or in part, to secure an indebtedness, or for a transfer to a corporation, partnership or other entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with a grantee.
   (B)   The following additional events shall be deemed to be a sale, assignment or other transfer of an interest in or control of a grantee or its franchise or cable system requiring compliance with this section:
      (1)   The sale, assignment or other transfer of all or a majority of a grantee’s assets;
      (2)   The sale, assignment or other transfer of capital stock or partnership, membership or other equity interests in a grantee by 1 or more of its existing shareholders, partners, members or other equity owners so as to create a new controlling interest in a grantee;
      (3)   The issuance of additional capital stock or partnership, membership or other equity interest by a grantee so as to create a new controlling interest in a grantee; and
      (4)   A grantee’s agreement to transfer management or operation of the grantee or the system. The term controlling interest as used herein is not limited to major stockholders but includes actual working control in whatever manner exercised.
   (C)   In the case of any sale or transfer of ownership of an interest in or control of a grantee or its franchise or cable system, the town shall have 120 days to act upon any request for approval of sale or transfer that contains or is accompanied by information as is required in accordance with FCC regulations and the requirements chapter and the applicable franchise agreement, including information related to the legal, technical and financial qualifications, and the proposed transferee’s ability to operate the system in accord with this chapter and the franchise agreement. Failure to provide all information reasonably requested by the town as part of its review may be grounds for a denial of the proposed transfer. If the town fails to render a final decision on the request within 120 days after receipt by the town of all required information, request shall be deemed granted unless the grantee and the town agree to an extension of the 120-day period.
   (D)   The consent or approval of the town to any transfer of the grantee shall not constitute a waiver or release of the rights of the town in and to the public rights-of-way, and any transfer shall, by its terms, be expressly subject to the terms and conditions of this chapter and the franchise agreement.
   (E)   In the absence of extraordinary circumstances, the town will not approve any transfer or assignment of the franchise prior to completion of construction of the proposed initial system.
   (F)   Any approval by the town of a transfer shall be contingent upon the prospective new grantee becoming a signatory to the franchise agreement.
(Ord. passed - -)
RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS PROTECTED
§ 115.145 DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES PROHIBITED.
   No grantee shall deny service, deny access or otherwise discriminate against subscribers, programmers or general citizens on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or age. Every grantee shall strictly adhere to the equal employment opportunity requirements of state and federal law. Each grantee shall comply at all times with all other applicable federal, state and local laws, and all executive and administrative orders relating to non-discrimination.
(Ord. passed - -)
§ 115.146 SUBSCRIBER PRIVACY.
   Grantees shall at all times comply with the federal subscriber privacy requirements codified at 47 U.S.C. § 551.
(Ord. passed - -)
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
§ 115.160 RATE REGULATION.
   (A)   The town reserves the right to regulate rates for all services offered over the cable system, to the extent permitted by federal or state law. Grantee shall be subject to the rate regulation provisions provided for herein, and those of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at 47 C.F.R. part 76.900, subpart N. The town shall follow the rules relating to cable rate regulation promulgated by the FCC at 47 C.F.R. part 76.900, subpart N. To the extent required by applicable federal or state law, grantee shall establish rates that are nondiscriminatory within the same general class of subscribers and which must be applied fairly and uniformly to all subscribers in the franchise area for all services
   (B)   Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the grantee from offering:
      (1)   Discounts to commercial and multiple family dwelling subscribers billed on a bulk basis;
      (2)   Promotional discounts;
      (3)   Reduced installation rates for subscribers who have multiple services;
      (4)   Discounts for senior citizens and/or low income residents; or
      (5)   Reduced rates to subscribers who receive non-cable services in addition to cable services.
(Ord. passed - -)
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