78 Franchise for Meridian Cooperative Gas Assoc.
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GAS FRANCHISE ORDINANCE NO. 78
liity or Meridian
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AN ORDINANCE GRANTING TO MERIDIAN COOPERATIVE GAS ASSOCIATION,
INC., AN IDAHO COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS
(HEREINAFTER COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "GRANI1EE"), FOR A PERIOD OF
THIRTY (30) YEARS .tt't<UM 'i'H~ DAY IT TAKES' EFFECT, THE FRANCHISE AND
RIGHT TO C8'1\12TRUCT, INSTALL ,;,1~,T!,T'!'AIN AND OEERATE A GAS PRODUCTION,
TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYS~EM AND APPURTENANCES, AND USE THE
STREETS, ALLEYS AND OTHER PUBLIC PLACES WITHIN THE PRESENT AND Fl~URE
CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, IDAHO (HEREINAFTER CALLED
"MUNICIPALITY"), SAID FRANCHISE AND RIGHT (TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
APPLICABLE LAW) TO BE EXCLUSIVE, AND PRESCRIBING THE TERMS AND CONDI~
TIONS THEREOF; RROVIDING THAT NOTHING IN THE ORDINANCE SHALL BE CON-
STRUED TO PREVENT SAID MUNICIPALITY EXERCISING RIGHT OF EMINENT
DOMAIN BUT THAT THE MUNICIPALITY SHALL NOT ENGAGE IN 'I'HE BUSINESS OF
PRODUCING, TRANSMITTING OR SELLING GAS IN COMPETITION WITH GRANTEE;
PRESCRIBING THE TIMES FOR COMMENCEMENT AND COMPLETION OF CERTAIN WORK
HEREUNDER; PROVIDING FOR VARIOUS BENEFITS AND CONSIDERATIONS TO THE
MUNICIPALITY THROUGH THE PAYMENT OF CERTAIN ANNUAL PAYMENTS ON IN-
DEBTEDNESS OF GRANTEE WHICH INURE TO MUNICIPALITY'S BENEFIT; REQUIR-
ING GRANTEE TO FILE CERTAIN ANNUAL REPORTS WITH THE CLERK OF THE
MUNICIPALITY;PRESCRIBING THE METHOD, MANNER AND PROTECTION OF WORK
UNDERTAKEN OR DONE BY GRANTEE HEREUNDER IN THE STREE;TS, ALLEYS AND
OTHER PUBLIC PLACES AND FOR REPAIR OF DAMAGES DONE BY GRANTEE, AND
FOR GRANTEE'S INDE~~TIf~ING THE MUNICIPALITY FOR ALL LOSS OR Dk~AGE
SUFFERED BY IT C~SED BY GRANTEE HEREUNDER; PROVIDING FOR FILING EVE-
DENCE OF INSURANCE AGAINST PROPERTY DAMAGE AND BODILY INJURY; RE-
QUIRING GRANTEE TO CONFORM TO CERTAIN ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR THE
ACCEPTANCE OF THIS FRANCHISE AND GRANT BY GRANTEE AND THE TD!1E,
MANNER AND EFJi'ECT THEREOF; PROVIDP:"G FOR THE ASSIGNMENT OF THIS
FRANCHISE, BY MORTGAGE, TRUST DEED OR OTHER LIEN CREAT.ED TO SECURE
INDEBTEDNESS FOR MONEY BORROWED FOR CORPORATE OBJECTS; PROVIDING FOR
A CONTRACT BETWEEN MUNICIPALITY AND GRANTEE SPECIFYING THAT THE
PROPERTIES AND ASSETS OF GRANTEE SHALL BECOME THE PROPERTY OF MUNICI-
P ALITY, WITHOUT ANY COMPENSATION TO ,GRANTEE, UPON THE TERMS .AND CON-
DITIONS THEREIN PROVIDED; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HERE-
WITH; AND SPECIFYING THE DATE ON WHICH THE ORDINANCE SHALL TAKE EFFECT.
Be It Ordained by the Mayor and Cpuncil of the City of
Meridian that:
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Section 1. There is hereby granted to Meridian Cooperative
Gas Association, Inc., a non-profit cooperative gas corporation,
its successors and assigns (hereinafter collectively called
"Grantee"), the right and authority to construct, install, main-
tain and operate a gas production, transmission and distribution
system (including mains, pipes, conduits, services and other
necessary structures and appliances appertaining thereto) in,
under, upon, over, across and along the streets, alleys, br~d~es,
and public plaoes within the present and future corporate llmlts of
the City of Meridian, Idaho (hereinSfter oalled "Municipality"),
for the furnishing, transmission, distribution and sale of gas,
whether artificial, natural, mixed or otherwise, for heating,
domestic, industrial and other purposes and for transmitting gas
into, through and beyond said Municipality. The franchise priv-
ileges rights, authorities, and trants herein 'and hereby made to
the Gr~ntee shall be granted for and limited in tine to, a period
of thirty (30) years from the day it takes effect, and, if and to
the extent permitted by applicable law, the franchise privileges
and other rights authorities and grants shall be deemed to be
exclusive; provided that, without limiting the generality of the
foregoing and in consideration of the Grantee's undertakings
hereunder and in the contract described in Section 2 hereof (to
be evidenced by the execution and delivery of the said contract
by the Grantee as prescribed in said Section 2), Municipality
agrees not tQ engage in the business of producing, distributing.
or selling gas during the life of this franchise, or any extenslon
thereof in competition with Grantee, its successors and assigns;
but notting herein contained shall be construed or deemed to,
prevent the Municipality from exercising at any time any power of
eminent domain nor or hereafter granted to it under the laws of
the State of Idaho.
Seotion 2. A condition precedent to this franchise and
grant becoming effective is the execution and ~elivery to Munici-
pality by the Grantee of a contract in the form thereof attached
hereto as Exhibit A, whereby, upon the terms and provisions
thereof and as consideration herefor, the Grantee will agree to
pay the hherein prescribed annual fees to t'he Municipality and
220 2.
Ultimately transfer the properties and assets of the Grantee to
the Municipality, all in accordance with the conditions
thereof. The agreements of the Grantee to be contained in the
said contract shall (to the extent permitted by applicable law)
be in lieu of any and all other fees, charges, licenses or taxes
(exclusive of ad valorem taxes) which the Municipality may impose
for the rights and privileges herein granted or for the privilege
of doing business within the Municipality.
Section 3. As further consideration for this fran-
chise and grant, Grantee agrees that (except as otherwise provided
in Section 7 hereof), as soon as reasonably possible after a gas
supply is availab1~ to Grantee from the pipeline source as herein-
after in this Section prescribed and after all requisite certifi-
cates of convenience and necessity and other authorizations and
approvals, if any, shall have been obtained from the Federal Power
C01llffiission and all other pUblic regulatory authorities having
juriSdiction over any of the operations of the Grantee or the
acquisition of gas by or the furnishing of gas to the Grantee, it
will construct its plant, works, gas main or other facilities for
the purchase and transmission, distribution and sale of gas
hereunder, and otherwise comply with the terms of this franchise;
provided, howerver, that notwithstanding the foregoing provisions
of this Section 3, Grantee shall be under no Obligation to qegin
the construction of its facilities until all such requisite
certificates, authoriz~tions and approvals have been obtained or
until such time as natural gas is available for purchase by
Grantee at such point of delivery and at such price or prices, and
in such quantities as Grantee in its solw discretion deems
sa t i sfactory and approves.
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Section 4. All Mains, pipes, f"ixtures and other
facitlities installed by virtrie of this ordinance shall be so
installed, erected and maintained so as to interfere as little
as possible with normal traffic over the streets, avenues, alleys
and"public places of Municipality. Grantee shall secure a permit
for any opening it shall make in streets, avenues, alleys and
pUblic places in the Municipality, and shall be subject to all
applicable ordinances, but no additional payment shall be required
of" Grantee for any such permits. The location and relocation of
any and all facilities shall be fixed and remain under the super-
vision and be with the approval of such representatives of the
governing body of Municipality as Municinslity may designate for
such purpose, but not so as unreas~)[:ably to inte.r-fere with the
proper operation of Grantee's facilities and services. Grantee
shall properly protect all excavations which it shall make in
the streets, avenues, alleys or public places of Municipality
during construction and shall, SUbject to the approval of
Municipal.ity at its own expense, refill such excavations and
restore the streets, avenues or pUblic places wherev.er the. same
are disturbed to the former condition as nearly as practicable,
and within the shortest practicable time, and shall maintain,
repair end keep in good condition fo~ a period of ope year all
portions of streets, avenues and alleys distunbed bu it or its
agents, proviaed that in case Grantee shall f'ail after reasonable
notice to repair or restor& same to its ~riginal condition,
Municipali ty shall have the right to make -such repairs .and
restorations and the cost thereOf" sh~ll ge paid by Grantee;
provided., l'urther, Grantee shall in the Construction, maintenance
and operation of its gas system in MuniCipality use all reasonable
ana proper precautions to avoid damage or injury to p.ersons or
property and shall hold the Municipality safe. and harmless l'rom
any and all damage, injury and expense caused by the negligence
of" Grantee or its agents or servants in the installation, main-
tenance and operation of its f"acilities; orovided the Grantee
shall have been notifi-ed by the Municipality in writing of any
claim against the Mu-nicipality on account thereof" and shall have
been given ample oppo~tunity to defend the same.
Wherever the MuniCipality shall pave or repave any
streets or shall change the grade or line of" any street or public
place or shall construct or reconstruct any conduit, water main,
sewer or water connection or other municipality, pUblic works or
utility, it shall be the duty of Grantee when so roaered by
Municipality to change its mains, services and other property in
the streets or public places at its own expense so as to conform
to the established grade or line of such street or public place
and so as not to interfere wi th, the condu1 ts, sewers and other
mains as constructed or reconstructed; however, Grantee shall not
be require~ to relocate piptes, mains and appurten~nces when the
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3.
street, alley or public grond in which they are located is
vacated for the convenience of abutting property owners and not as
an incident to a publ ic improvenient, unless the reasonabl e cas t of
such relocation and the loss and wxpense tesulting therefrom i~
first paid to Grantee. Whenever Municf~ality gra~ts a permit for
an eX0avation in a street, alley or other public ground and the
work contemplated by the permit may' expose gas pipes, mains and
appurtenances of Grantee, Municipality shall promptly furnish a
copy of the permit to Grantee.
Section 5. If and to the extent the same is obtainable
with premium and other terms which, in the opinion' of the Grantee,
are reasonable, Grantee shall, so long as this franchise shall be
in effect, keep and maintain in force,in reputable insure~s, pub-
lic liability and property damage insurance against liability for
bodily injury, with limits of not less than $25,000 as to each
person and $500,000 'as to each Be cident, and a'~ainst liability for
property damage, with limits of not less than $10,000 as to each
accident, and if so requested by the Municipality, the Grantee
shall file with the C]<ork of the Municipality a certificate
evidencing the aforesaid insurance then maintained by the Grantee.
Section 6.. Municipality shall have access at all
reasonablshours to all Grantee's plans, contracts and engineering,
accounting, financial, statistical, member and service records
relating to the property and operation of Grantee.
221.
Section 7. Grantee shall, within ttirty (30) days after
the,adoption of this ordinance, file with the Clerk of the Munici-
pallty an executed counterpart af the said contract substantially
in the form thereof attached hereto as Exhibit A (whiCh contract,
among other things, will contain an acceptance hereof by the
Grantee),'signed by its proper orficers and attested by its cor-
por~te seal, and shall begin to supply gas service under this
franchise within 18 months after natural gas is made available
(as Presoribed in Section 3 hereof) to Grantee for distribution
and after the requisite certificates, authorizations and approvals
also described in Section 3 have been obtained as prescribed
therein; provided, however, that such 18 months' period shall be
extended by the addition of any time reasonably lost due to liti~
gat ion instituted by others or due to the action of Municipality,
its officers or governing body, or of any other governmental body
or authority, or due to strikes or other causes reasonably
beyBnd control of Grantee. Otherwise the provisions of this
franchise shall be null and void.
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Section 8. The Grantee shall not sell, assign; \'e~rs8"__ .' .-:- .:....:..
or otherwise dispose of any part or all of its interests -J!1 t-his,'~0-
franchise, except that nothimg here;, r contained shall preve'llt /or.-:-.-.:.,
restrict the Grantee from (or require the consent of the......:"., -~ ::.:~
Municipality in connection therewith) assigning its right;, title~ 2
and interest herein under anyone or more mortgages ,trus-t._deed3_-.;
or other liens created to secure any indebtedness of. the. Gra!]:tee "
incurred or to be incurred for money borrowed for corpol'at.e."'>.~"
Objects. "-
Section 9. Consistent with its interest in the gas
system and the operation thereof, Municipality agrees that its
legal, engineering and other branches of city government will
cooperate with Grantee for the benefit of the inhabitants of
Municipality.
Section 10. The invalidity of any provision or
provisions of this ordinance shall not affect the validity of the
remaining provisions hereof, but in such event this ordinance
shall be construed and applied as if the provisions thereof which
are invalid were not a part hereof.
Section 11. All ordinances and parts of ordinances of
Municipality in conflict herewith shall be and the same are hereby
trprslrf.
Adopted and approved
March 5
1956
A.'
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