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Franchise Ordinances Gas, Power & Cablei SM~t TCI Cablevision of Treasure Vallev We're taking television into tomorrow ~~.~~. ~C~ ~ 1 194 October 27, 1994 City Clerk City of Meridian 33 E. Idaho Meridian, Idaho Dear Sir: CITY 0~' ~~1~IIDIAN This letter is to info m yuu of some recent decisions that may impact our customers. Please contact me at (208) 77-2491 if you have any questions. Beginning in Decem er 1994, the FCC is allowing cable operators to begin adding the federal regulatory "user" fee to subscribers' bills. As you know, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 1 3-66) requires the FCC to assess a fee of $0.37 per subscriber to defray the cost of cable reg lation. This fee for our system has already been paid to the Commission. This federal regulat ry fee applies to all cable subscribers regardless of the communities regulatory status. In an Order released ctober 5, 1994, the Commission sent out instructions to operators on how to recover this fee. or the three months December 1994 through February 1995 subscribers will be assessed a $0.03 charge. It will appear on their bill as a line-item entitled "Regulatory Fee". For March 19 5 through September 1995 a $0.04 line-item charge will appear on each subscriber's bill. A er September 1995, the fee will be evenly prorated over the 12 month period coinciding wi h the federal government's fiscal year. Subscribers will receive the required advance not'fication as a billing message. Regarding another yo may remember, TCI customers have many choices regarding the repair and maintenance of t e "inside wiring" within their homes. Cable companies were required in September, 1993, to unbundle charges relating to "equipment" and "service." TCI, like other cable perators, complied with this requirement. In the initial calculation of its "equipment basket", a cost associated with maintaining inside wiring, along with the cost of installing and maintai ing other customer premises equipment, were included in the calculation. In determining what rcentage of "technical service" cost should be included in the "equipment basket", TCI provid its actual count of all "drop-related" calls and then applied its estimate of the "percentage f time maintaining in-home wiring" to derive the "in-home wiring" component. Boise Office 8400 Westpark Street P.O. Box 44 Boise, Idaho 83744 (208) 377-2491 FAX (208) 375-7500 An Equal Opportunity Employer By including the "in-home wiring" cost in the "equipment basket", FCC rules required TCI to reduce its programming service rates by that same amount. The cost associated with "equipment", which includes the cost of "in-home wiring", was thus unbundled. Because of the changes in the law, TCI announced it would begin to collect repair and maintenance charges of "inside wiring" pursuant to the hourly service charge. Customers were also informed they could fix problems themselves or could hire a third party to resolve problems. Finally, they could elect TCI's optional "inside wire maintenance program" by affirmatively notifying TCI of its selection. In order to do so, customers had to return a business reply postcard which was supplied to them by the Company. Attached to the postcard were the terms and conditions of the optional program. TCI believes that the program is an unregulated service. When a regulated option exists, the FCC has already recognized that other optional, alternatives should be unregulated. It has ruled in the case of equipment .sales (suck as converter or remote sales) that the sales price is unregulated provided the equipment is also leased at regulated rates. The regulated lease price establishes "competition" to the operator's sales price. Such competition undercuts any economic justification for regulating the sales price. With respect to the "inside wiring", the more traditional regulated alternative for maintenance and repair of the "inside wiring" is the hourly service charge established pursuant to the formula provided by the FCC. Under this regulated option, the customer pays no monthly fee, but if wire maintenance or repair is needed, the customer is responsible for all necessary hourly service charges to correct the problem. Using the logic already adopted by the FCC, the optional program offered by TCI should be an unregulated option. We are pleased to announce that TCI is about to inform its customers that TCI will no longer own the "inside wire" within their homes. If customers do not want the inside wire, they may remove it or have TCI do so pursuant to an hourly service charge. Obviously, customers may elect to leave the "inside wire" in place and use it to receive cable service through TCI or another service provider. Regardless of who installed it, our customers now own the "inside wire". Customers will now have more choices regarding the "inside wiring" within their home, including the choice of service providers. TCI intends to continue to provide its customers with choices regarding their services. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Respectfully, ~~ Wayne H. Watson General Manager WHW/le wam~o~:.~ 1 1 ~ 9-25-44s 2 9-25-45: 3 9-25-46: 4 9-25-47: 5 9-25-48: 6 9-25-49: Performance Bond - ~ .= _ -~ -~ .. (Reserved) Equalization~of Civic Contributions Penalty : ~ : _ ~ - - . Inconsistency Severability 9-25-1: DEFINITIONS: A. "Access channels" means channels to be used for educational purposes and by government and public agencies and/or their representatives (commonly referred to as "PEG" channels) provided at no additional charge to the City, programming source, or the subscriber. B. "A.C.H.D." means that political subdivision of the State of Idaho responsible for streets and highways in Ada County, Idaho. C. "The Act" means Title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act 1992, and~any subsequent amendments. D. "Addressability" means the ability of a system allowing a franchisee to authorize by remote control customer terminals to receive, change or cancel any or all specified programming. E. "Affiliate" means a condition of being united, being in close connection, allied, or attached as a member or branch. F. "Applicant" means any .person or entity that applies for a franchise. G. "Basic cable" is the tier of service regularly provided to all subscribers including the retransmission of local broadcast television signals. H. "Cable services" means '~ 1. the one-way transmission to a subscriber of video programming, other programming service or data communication by a subscriber, 2. subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection by the subscriber of such video programming, or 3'. any other programming service or data communication by a subscriber. I. "Cable system" means a facility, consisting of a set of closed ~p ~°~~0, ~~ *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 3. 2 3 5 6 8 9 10 it 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 transmission.~~ paths .and 'associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service and other .service to subscribers.. . J. "Channel" means a single path or section of the spectrum which carries a cable service. g, "City" means the City of Boise, a municipal corporation of the State of Zdaho.- I,. "Council" means the present governing body of the City or any future board constituting the legislative body of the City. M, "Data Communication" means 1, the movement of encoded information by means of electrical, electronic, or light transmission systems; or 2. the transmission of data from one point to another over a cable system. N. "Disconnection" means the discontinuance of all cable service to a subscriber by a cable operator. p. "FCC" means en he ofFtherUnit d St tes government fission, a regulatory ag Y p, "Franchise" shall mean the ini whethert such author izationwis thereof, issued by the City, license resolution, designated as a franchise, permit, which authorizes contract, certificate or otherwise, construction or operation of the cable system for the purpose of offering cable service or other service to subscribers. Q. "Franchisee" means the person to whom a franchise, as herein above defined, is granted by the Council under this Ordinance and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of said person subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the City. J~ R. "Gross revenues" means any and all receipts and revenues ~ received directly or indirectly from all sources by the operator of a cable system or attributable to a cable syste ~ within the corporate limits of the City. but is not limited "Gross revenues" is intended to include, to, all income without any offsetting of expenses, costs or. depreciation, derived from: 1, Subscribers receiving goods, equipment, equipment service, or cable service from or through the use of a *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 4. 1 ~ ~ cable system 2 installation 3 specifically 4 '~ interest, or within :the City; revenues for _`service,•i~~~'-~ and repair; and, any and all charges not: = _ exempt herein such as delinquency fees,~:~.~ finance charges ; -.and, ~ - ~ -: - - - _ . - . 2. Home shopping channel sales made within City. Without limiting the generality of 'the foregoing, "gross revenues" is not intended to include income, credits or revenues attributable to the operation of a cable system within the City arising from 1. Real property transactions; 2. Taxes paid by a subscriber, the operator of a cable system within the City or another person which are imposed on any subscriber; 3. Interest (other than interest charged subscribers of the cable system within the City or advertisers for services provided or delivered by the cable system within the City) or dividends on investments received by the operator of a cable system within the City unrelated to the delivery of cable services within the City; or 4. Net uncollectible debts. S. "Headend" means the electronic equipment located at the start of a cable system, usually including antennas, preamplifiers, frequency converters, demodulator and related equipment. T. "Installation" means the. connection of the cable system to subscribers' terminals. U. "Institutional services" means a cable systea designated principally for the provision of non-entertainment services to schools, public agencies or other non-profit agencies, separate and distinct from the subscriber network, or on secured channels of the subscriber network. V. "NCTA" means the National Cable Television Association. W. "Normal business hours" means those hours during which most similar business in the City are open to the service of customers and shall include at least four (4) consecutive hours per weekday and either one (1) evening per week or one (1) Saturday or Sunday. X. "Normal operating conditions"'means those service conditions which are within the control or are reasonably anticipated by the cable operator, including special promotions, pay-per-view *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Paqe 5. 1 9-?.5-6: POLICE POAERS:~_ •-:_ ~ _ -.'.: . , °~~ ;~ . ,. . _. -.... _ - ,.... 2 g In accepting any~~franchise, ~a franchisee acknowledges that its ' - ~- - 4 rights .hereunder are subject to the legitimate:;rights of the=. -. 5 police power of the City :to adopt and enforce .general 6 ordinances necessary to protect the safety and welfare of the 7 public and it agrees to comply with all applicable general g laws enacted by the City pursuant to such power. 9 10 11 9-25-7: DEVELOPMENT OF CITY PLAN FOR CABLE SYSTEMS 12 13 The City is in the process of formulating an overall cab e 14 system plan with objectives to maximize service and efficiency 15 to the community, encourage healthy competition within the 16 market, and prepare for the technological advances in the 17 future. In carrying out adoption of an overall policy, City lg shall study the industry, its community needs, and shall plan 19 for development. The objective for City is to set forth 20 policies and procedures which.ensure City citizens receive a 21 variety of quality programming, cable services and data 22 communications; reliable, clear signals; and prompt, courteous 23 service. 24 25 26 9-25-8: RIILES AND REGULATIONS BY THE CITY: 27 28 A. In addition to the inherent powers of the City to regulate an the authority granted to it 2g control any franchise it issues, 3p by the Act, and those powers expressly reserved by the City, 31 or agreed to and provided for in a franchise, the right and 32 power is hereby reserved by the City to .promulgate such 33 additional regulations of general applicability to all 34 franchisees which are reasonable and necessary in the exercise 35 of its lawful powers. 36 37 B. The City Council reserves the right to delegate its authority ~g for franchise administration. Any delegation of authority may ;9 be accomplished by resolution. Notice of.any delegation shall 40 be transmitted to all franchisees. 41 42 43 9-25-9: TECffi~1ICAL STANDARDS: 44 45 A. Subject to Federal, State and local law, a franchisee shall 4 6 comply wit 610Cas aZpendedp hereaf tert, bandt t~ the minimum, ~ the 47 through 76 48 following: . 49 ~. ~ D. , State and ~0 ~ 1. Applicable City, County, A.C.h. 51 National/Federal Codes and Ordinances; *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page il. 1 ~ ~ 2 .~- °~• Applicable :-Utility -Joint Attachment:. Practices; •- ~ ~ ~ •~ 2 _ :.. . ~ . .. _ -------. ~. 3 3. The National Electric Safety Code;~-ANSI C2; 4 -_ - _ . - .. . . 5 4. Local Utility Code Requirements; - . 6 - 7 5. 'Local Rights-of-Way and A.C.H.D. Procedures. 8 _ . 9 B. PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE: A comprehensive routine preventive. l0 maintenance program shall be developed, effected, and put into 11 operation to ensure continued top quality cable communications 12 operating standards in conformance with FCC Regulations Part 13 76 or as may be amended. 14 15 16 9-25-10: PARENTAL CONTROL DEVICES: 17 18 Upon request by a subscriber a franchisee will make available 19 and may charge the subscriber a fee not to exceed the 20 franchisee's actual cost including applicable handling fees, 21 a device by which the subscriber can prohibit viewing of a 22 particular cable service. 23 24 25 9-25-11: ADAPTATION TO NEW TECHNOLOGY: 26 27 At the periodic meetings as provided herein, the City and 28 franchisees shall discuss technological developments and their 29 incorporation into the services provided. 30 31 32 9-25-12: DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED: 33 34 Franchisee shall provide sound enhancing devices to reques~ing 35 subscriber for a hearing impaired subscriber or subscriber's 36 family member in compliance with the Act. This require=ent 37 may be met by providing closed caption programming. 3a 39 40 9-25-13: CONSTRIICTION STANDARDS: 41 42 A. All facilities constructed under this Ordinance shall be 43 placed and maintained at such places and positions in or upon 44 such public ways and public .places as shall not interfere with 45 the passage of traffic and the use of adjoining property, and 46 shall conform to all of the applicable laws,. rules or 47 regulations. 48 49 B. A franchisee is required in all cases to request and apply for 50 all construction variances for system extension, subscriber *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 12. :. i. ' - ~ •- ... , ~ ~ - - - t~•.Ty :.mom ~. ~~~ .. 1.~ ~ 3 . The number ,of _homes passed; _ __ .- .. _ _ _ ; ~, ~,• - _ - - . _ 3 - 4. The number of subscribers with basic services; -:_ -.- 4 _ _ 5 5. The number of subscribers with premium services; -~•~-- ••- 6 7 6. The number of hook-ups in period; 8 9 7. The number of disconnects in period; - 10 ~ - .. _ it ~ ~~~8. Total number of miles of cable in City; 12 13 9. Summary of complaints received by category, length of 14 time taken to resolve and action taken to provide 15 resolution; 16 17 10. A statement of its current billing practices, and a lg sample copy of the bill format; 19 20 11. A current copy of its subscriber service contract; and, 21 22 i2. Report on Operations - Such other reports with respect to 23 its local operation, affairs, transactions or property 24 that may be appropriate. 25 26 27 9-25-35: PROGRAMMING: 28 29 For informational purposes a franchisee shall file a listing 30 of its programming and the tiers in which they are placed. 31 32 33 ' 34 9-25-36: NON-DISCRIMINATION: 35 36 A. A franchisee shall not, as to rates, charges, service 37 facilities, rules, regulations or in any other respect, make 38 or grant any preferences or advantage to any person nor 39 subject any person to any prejudice or disadvantage; provided, 40 that nothing in this Ordinance shall be deemed to prohibit the 41 establishment of a graduated scale of charges and classified 42 rate schedules to which any customer coming within such 43 classification would be entitled, and provided further that 44 connection and/or service charges may be waived .or modified . 45 during promotional campaigns of a franchisee. 46 47 B. A franchisee will not deny access to cable communications 48 service to any. group of potential residential subscribers 49 because of the income of the residents of the local area in 50 which the group resides. 51 - ' *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 23. ~_ -_ -- TELE-COMMUNICATIONS, INC. MODEL FRANCHISE AGREEMENT June 8,1993 Informal proposal For discussion purposes only ~ ~ TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 Definition of Terms ....................... 1 1.1 erms ................................................. 1 SECTION 2 Grant of Franchise ....................... 2 2.1 Grant ................................................. 2 2.2 Ter:n .................................................. 3 SECTION 3 Standards of Service ...................... . 3.1 ('onditions of Street Occupancy ............................. . 3.2 Restoration of Public Wavs ................................ . 3.3 Relocatior. at Request of the Franchising Authority .............. . 3.4 Relocation at Request of Third Party ................... .... . 3.5 Trimming of Trees and Shrubbery ........................... . 3.6 Safety Requirements ..................................... . 3.7 Aerial and Underground Construction ........................ . 3.8 Required Extensions of Service ............................. . 3.9 Subscriber Charges for Extensions of Service ................... . 3.10 Service to Public Buildings ................................ . 3.11 mergence Use ......................................... . 3.12 C~.ustomer Service Standards ................................ . 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 SE CTION 4 Regulation by the Franchising Authority 4.1 Franchise Fee ........................................... 8 4.3 Renewal of Franchise ..................................... 9 4.4 Conditions of Sale ....................................... 10 4.5 Transfer of Franchise .................................... 10 SECTION 5 Compliance and Monitoring ................... 11 5.1 Testing for Compliance ................................... 11 5.2 Books and Records ...................................... 11 SECTION 6 Insurance and Indemnification .................. 11 6.1 Insurance Requirements .................................. 11 6.2 Indemnification ......................................... 12 • • SECTION 7 Enforcement and Termination of Franc ise .......... . . . 12 7.1 Notice of Violation ...................................... 12 7.2 _Grantee's Right to Care or Respond ......................... 12 7.3 Public Hearing ......................................... 12 7.4 Enforcement ........................................... 12 SECTION 8 .Miscellaneous Provisions .................... 13 8.1 Actions of Parties ....................................... 14 8.2 Equal Protection ........................................ 14 8.3 Theft of Service ......................................... 14 8.4 Notice ................................................ 14 8.5 Descriptive Headin~t ..................................... 15 8.6 Severability ............................................ 15 8.7 Effective Date .......................................... 1~ • FRANCHISE AGREEMENT This Franchise Agreement (this "Franchise") is between the (Goumty ~Ti pe) of ... :. :., fl'~ame :©f Cornmuzuty), hereinafter referred to as "Franchising Authority" and G~ante dame), hereinafter referred to as "Grantee." The Franchising Authority, having determined that the financial, legal, and technical ability of the Grantee is reasonably sufficient to provide services, facilities, and equipment necessary to meet the future cable-related needs of the community, desires to enter into this Franchise Agreement with the Grantee for the construction and operation of a cable system on the terms set forth herein. SECTION 1 Definition of Terms 1.1 Terms. For the purpose of this Franchise, the following terms, phrases, words, and abbreviations shall have the meanings ascribed to them below. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number: A. "Basic Cable" is the lowest priced tier of service that includes the retransmission of local broadcast television signals. B. "Cable Act" collectively means the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 and the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 199?, as amended. C. "FCC" means Federal Communications Commission, or successor governmental entity thereto. D. "Franchise" shall mean the initial authorization, or renewal thereof, issued by the Franchising Authority, whether such authorization is designated as a franchise, permit, license, resolution, contract, certificate, or otherwise, which authorizes construction and operation of the System. E. "Franchising Authority" means the (Cannnunttv~) of Name of ;~omaun~r) or the lawful successor, transferee, or assignee thereof. F. "Grantee" means ( Fa'~ttee-arn~), or the lawful successor, transferee, or assignee thereof. -1- G. "Gross Revenues" mean any revenue received by the Grantee from the operation of the System in the Service Area, provided, however, that such phrase shall not include any fees or taxes which are imposed directly or indirectly on any Subscriber thereof by any governmental unit or agency, and which are collected by the Grantee on behalf of such governmental unit or agency. H. "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or governmental entity. I. "Public Way" shall mean the surface of, and the space above and below, any public street, highway, freeway, bridge, land path, alley, court, boulevard, sidewalk, parkway, way, lane, public way, drive, circle, or other public right-of- way, including, but not limited to, public utility easements, dedicated utility strips, or rights-of--way dedicated for compatible uses and any temporary or permanent fixtures or improvements located thereon now or hereafter held by the Franchising Authority in the Service Area which shall entitle the Franchising Authority and the Grantee to the use thereof for the purpose of installing, operating, repairing, and maintaining the System. Public Way shall also mean any easement now or hereafter held by the Franchising Authority within the Service Area for the purpose of public travel, or for utility or public service use dedicated for compatible uses, and shall include other easements or rights-of--way as shall within their proper use and meaning entitle the Franchising Authority and the Grantee to the use thereof for the purposes of installing and operating the Grantee's System over poles, wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, attachments, and other property as may be ordinarily necessary and pertinent to the System. J. "Service Area" means the present municipal boundaries of the Franchising Authority, and shall include any additions thereto by annexation or other legal means. K. "Subscriber" means a person or user of the System who lawfully receives communications and other services therefrom with the Grantee's express permission. L. "System" shall mean a system of antennas, cables, wires, lines, fiber optic cable, towers, waveguides or other conductors, converters, equipment or facilities, used for producing, receiving, amplifying, storing, processing, or distributing audio, video, digital or other forms of signals to and from Subscribers. -2- ~ ~ SECTION 2 ('rant of Franchise 21 errant. The Franchising Authority hereby grants to the Grantee a nonexclusive Franchise which authorizes the Grantee to construct and operate a System in, along, among, upon, across, above, over, under, or in any manner connected with Public Ways within the Service Area and for that purpose to erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, maintain, or retain in, on, over, under, upon, across, or along any Public Way and all extensions thereof and additions thereto, such poles, wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, pedestals, amplifiers, appliances, attachments, and other related property or equipment as may be necessary or appurtenant to the System. A_ Because the communications industry and the regulatory environment in which it operates are rapidly changing, and because increasing competitive pressures are playing a role in the future of the industry, nothing contained herein shall require the grantee to provide video, voice or data service(s) to the city on more preferential terms than any provider of competitive service(s). 2 ~ Term The Franchise granted hereunder shall be for an initial term of 15 years commencing on the effective date of the Franchise as set forth below, unless otherwise lawfully terminated in accordance with the terms of this Franchise. SECTION 3 Standards of Service 3.1 Conditions of Street Occupancy . All transmission and distribution structures, poles. other lines, and equipment installed or erected by the Grantee pursuant to the terms hereof shall be located so as to cause a minimum of interference with the proper use of Public Ways and with the rights and reasonable convenience of property owners who .oven property that adjoins any of such Public Ways. 32 Restoration of Public Wavy. If during the course of the Grantee's construction, operation, or maintenance of the System there occurs a disturbance of any Public Way by the Grantee, it shall, at its expense, replace and restore such Public Way to a condition reasonably comparable to the condition of the Public Way existing immediately prior to such disturbance. 33 Relocation at Request of the Franchising Authority. Upon its receipt of reasonable advance notice, not to be less than five business days, the Grantee shall, at its own expense, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate in the Public Way, or remove from the Public Way, any property of the Grantee when lawfully required by the Franchising Authority by reason of traffic conditions, public safety, street abandonment, freeway and street construction, change or establishment of street grade, installation of sewers, drains, gas or water pipes, or any other type of structures or improvements by the Franchising -3- ~ ~ Authority; but, the Grantee shall in all cases have the right of abandonment of its property. If public funds are available to any person using such street, easement, or right of way for the purpose of defraying the cost of any of the foregoing, the Franchising Authority shall make application for such funds on behalf of the Grantee. 3.4 Relocation at Request of Third Party. The Grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a building moving permit issued by the Franchising Authority, temporarily raise or lower its wires to permit the moving of such building, provided: (a) the expense of such temporary raising or lowering of wires is paid by said person, including, if required by the Grantee, making such payment in advance; and (b) the Grantee is given not less than 10 business days advance written notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes. 3S Trimming_of Trees and Shrubbery. The Grantee shall have the authority to trim trees or other natural growth overhanging any of its System in the Service Area so as to prevent branches from coming in contact with the Grantee's wires, cables, or other equipment. The Grantee shall reasonably compensate the Franchising Authority for any damages caused by such trimming, or shall, in its sole discretion and at its own cost and e.~rpense, reasonably replace all t: ees or shrubs damaged as a result of any construction of the System undertaken by the Grantee. Such replacement shall satisfy any and all obligations the Grantee may have to the Franchising Authority pursuant to the terms of this Section. 3.6 Safety Requirements. Construction, installation, and maintenance of the System shall be performed in an orderly and workmanlike manner. All such work shall be performed in substantial accordance with applicable FCC or other federal, state, and local regulations and the National Electric Safety Code. The System shall not unreasonably endanger or interfere with the safety of persons or property in the Service Area. 3.7 Aerial and Underground Construction. In those areas of the Service Area where all of the transmission or distribution fac~.lities of the respective public utilities providing telephone communications and electric services are underground, the Grantee likewise shall construct, operate, and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground; provided that such facilities are actually capable of receiving the Grantee's cable and other equipment without technical degradation of the System's signal quality. In those areas of the Service Area where the transmission or distribution facilities of the respective public utilities providing telephone communications, and electric services are both aerial and underground, the Grantee shall have the sole discretion to construct, operate, and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities, or any part thereof, aerially or underground. Nothing contained in this Section shall require the Grantee to construct, operate, and maintain underground any ground-mounted appurtenances such as subscriber taps, line extenders, system passive devices (splitters, directional couplers), amplifiers, power supplies, pedestals, or other related equipment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section, in the event that all of the transmission or distribution facilities of the respective public utilities providing telephone communications and electric services -4- ~ ~ are placed underground after the effective date of this Franchise, the Grantee shall only be required to construct, operate, and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground if it is given reasonable notice and access to the public utilities' facilities at the time that such are placed underground. 3.8 Required Extensions of Service. The System, as constructed as of the date of the passage and final adoption of this Franchise, substantially complies with the material provisions hereof. Whenever the Grantee shall receive a request for service from at least 15 residences within 1320 cable-bearing strand feet (one-quarter cable mile) of its trunk or distribution cable, it shall extend its System to such Subscribers at no cost to said Subscribers for System extension, other than the usual connection fees for all Subscribers; provided that such extension is technically feasible, and if it will not adversely affect the operation, financial condition, or market development of the System, or as provided for under Section 3.9 of this Franchise. In case of new construction or property development where utilities are to be placed underground, the developer or property owner shall give the Grantee reasonable notice of not less .than 30 days prior to such construction or development, of the particular date on which open trenching will be available for the Grantee's installation of conduit, pedestals and/cr vaults, and laterals to be provided at the Grantee's expense. The Grantee shall also provide specifications as needed for trenching. Cost of trenching and easements required to bring service to the development shall be borne by the developer or property owner. 3.9 Subscriber Charles for Extensions of Service. No Subscriber shall be refused service arbitrarily. However, for unusual circumstances, such as a Subscriber's request to locate his cable drop underground, existence of more than 150 feet of distance from distribution cable to connection of service to Subscribers, or a density of less than 15 residences per 1320 cable-bearing strand feet of trunk or distribution cable, service may be made available on the basis of a capital contribution in aid of construction, including cost of material, labor, and easements. For the purpose of determining the amount of capital contribution in aid of construction to be borne by the Grantee and Subscribers in the area in which service may be expanded, the Grantee will contribute an amount equal to the construction and other costs per mile, multiplied by a fraction whose numerator equals the actual number of residences per 1320 cable-bearing strand feet of its trunks or distribution cable, and whose denominator equals 15 residences. Subscribers who request service hereunder will bear the remainder of the construction and other costs on a pro rata basis. The Grantee may require that the payment of the capital contribution in aid of construction borne by such potential Subscribers be paid in advance. 3.10 Service to Public Buildings. The Grantee shall, upon request, provide without charge, one outlet of Basic Service to those Franchising Authority offices, fire station(s), police station(s), and public school building(s) that are passed by its System. The outleu of Basic Service shall not be used to distribute or sell services in or throughout such buildings, nor shall such outlets be located in areas open to the public. Users of such outlets shall hold the Grantee harmless from any and all liability or claims arising out of their use of such -5- outlets, including but not limited to, those arising from copyright liability. The Grantee shall not be required to provide an outlet to such buildings where the drop line from the feeder cable to said buildings or premises exceeds or unless the appropriate governmental entity agrees to pay the incremental cost of such drop line in excess of 150 cable feet. If .additional outlets of Basic Service are provided to such buildings, the building owner shall pay the usual installation fees associated therewith, including, but not limited to, labor and materials. 3.11 Emergency Use. In the case of any emergency or disaster, the Grantee shall, upon request of the Franchising Authority, make available its facilities for the Franchisin; Authority to provide emergency information and instructions during the emergency or disaster period. Except to the extent expressly prohibited by law, the Franchising Authority shall hold the Grantee, its employees, officers, and assigns, harmless from any claims arising out of the emergency use of its facilities by the Franchising Authority, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. 3.12 C~,istomer Serrice Standards. (1) ~ stem office hours and telephone availability. (A) The Grantee will maintain a local, toll-free or collect call telephone access line which will be available to Subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (i) Trained representatives of the Grantee will be available to respond to Subscriber telephone inquiries during Normal Business Hours, as defined herein. (ii} After Normal Business Hours, an access line will be available to be answered by a senzce or an automated response system, including a phone answering system. Inquiries received after Normal Business Hours must be responded to by a trained representative of the Grantee on the next business day. (B) Under Normal Operating Conditions, as defined herein, telephone answer time by a customer representative, including wait time, will not exceed 30 seconds when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer time will not exceed 30 seconds. These standards will be met no less than 90 percent of the time under Normal Operating Conditions, as measured by the Grantee on a quarterly basis. (C) The Grantee shall not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards set forth above unless an historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply with such standards. (D) Under Normal Operating Conditions, the Subscriber will receive a busy signal less than 3 percent of the time. -6- • (E) Customer service center and bill payment locations will be open at least during Normal Business Hours and will be conveniently located. (2) Installations, outages and service calls. Under Normal Operating Conditions, each of the following four standards will be met no less than 95 percent of the time, as measured by the Grantee on a quarterly basis: (A) Standard installations will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed. "Standard" installations are those that are located up to 125 feet from the existing distribution system. (B) Excluding conditions beyond its control, the Grantee w1ll begin working on Service Interruptions, as defined herein, promptly and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known. The Grantee will begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. (C) The Grantee will provide "appointment window" alternatives for installations, service calls, and other installation activities, which will be either a specil-ic time or, at maximum, afour-hour time block during Normal Business Hours. (D) The Grantee shall not cancel an appointment with a Subscriber after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment. (E) If a representative of the Grantee is n,nning late for an appointment with a Subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the Subscriber will be contacted. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the Subscriber. (3) Communications between Grantee and Subscribers. (A) Notifications to Subscribers: (1) The Grantee shall provide written information on each of the following areas at the time of installation of service, at least annually to all Subscribers, and at any time upon request: (i) produce and services offered; (ii) prices and options for services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services; (iii) installation and service maintenance policies; (iv) instructions on how to use the service; -7- • (v) channel positions of programming carried on the System; and (vi) billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the local Franchising Authorit}~s cable office. (2) Subscribers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible through announcements on the System and in writing. Notice will be given to Subscribers a minimum of 30 days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the Grantee. In addition, the Grantee shall notify Subscribers 30 days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by the preceding paragraph. (B) Billing: (i) Bills will be clear, concise and understandable. Bills will be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Bills will also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits. (ii) In case of a billing dispute, the Grantee will respond to a written complaint from a Subscriber within 30 days from receipt of the complaint. (C) Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than the return of all subscriber equipment provided by the Grantee and, either (i) the Subscriber's next billing cycle following resolution of the request or 30 days, whichever is later. (D) Credits for service will be issued no later than the Subscriber's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted. (4) Definitions: For purposes of this Section, the following definitions shall apply: (A) Normal Business Hours -The term "Normal Business Hours" means those hours during which most similar businesses in the community are open to serve Subscribers. In all cases, "Normal Business Hours" shall include some evening hours at least one night per week and/or some weekend hours. The Grantee will notify its Subscribers and the Franchising Authority of its Normal Business Hours. (B) Normal Operating Conditions -The term "Normal Operating Conditions" means those service conditions which are within the control of the Grantee. Those conditions which are not within the control of the Grantee include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, civil disturbances, power outages, telephone network outages, and severe or unusual weather conditions. Those conditions which are ordinarily within the control of the Grantee include, but are not limited to, special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate -8- increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods, and maintenance or upgrade of the System. (C) Service Interruption -The term "service interruption" means the loss of picture or sound on one or more channels. SECTION 4 Regulation by the Franchising Authority 4.1 Franchise Fee. A. The Grantee shall pay to the Franchising Authority a franchise fee equal to 5% percent of Gross Revenues (as defined in Section 1.1 of this Franchise) received by the Grantee from the operation of the System on an annual basis; provided, however, that the Grantee may credit against any such payments: (i) any tax, fee, or assessment of any kind imposed by the Franchising Authority or other governmental entity on a cable operator, or Subscriber, or both, solely because of their status as such; (ii) any tax, fee or assessment of general applicability which is unduly discriminatory against cable operators or Subscribers (including any such tax, fee, or assessment imposed, both on utilities and cable operators and their services), and (iii) any other special tax, assessment, or fee such as a business, occupation, and entertainment tax. For the purpose of this Section, the 12-month period applicable under the Franchise for the computation of the franchise fee shall be a calendar year, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the Franchising Authority and the Grantee. The franchise fee payment shall be due and payable 90 days after the close of the preceding calendar year. Each payment shall be accompanied by a brief report from a representative of the Grantee showing the basis for the computation. B. Limitation on Franchise Fee Actions. The period of limitation for recovery of any franchise fee payable hereunder shall be five years from the date on which payment by the G: antee is due. Unless within five years from and after such payment due date the Franchising Authority initiates a lawsuit for recovery of such franchise fees in a court of competent jurisdiction, such recovery shall be barred and the Franchising Authority shall be estopped from asserting any claims whatsoever against the Grantee relating to any such alleged deficiencies. 42 Rates and Charges. A. A. The City may adopt the requisite ordinances to regulate rates for the provision of Basic Cable TV Service and equipment as defined, provided and permitted by the 1984 Communications, as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 ("1992 Act") together with implementing regulations promulgated by the FCC. -9- B. The Grantee shall file with the City on December 31 of each year a full schedule of all subscribers and user rates and all other charges including, but not limited to, pay TV, lease channel and discrete services, made in connection with the cable communications system. (1) All rates shall be published on file with the City. (2) The Grantee shall not discriminate in the assessment, levy, charge, imposition or collection of rates on the basis of age, race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status. C. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prohibit the reduction or ~Naiving of charges in conjunction with promotional campaigns for the purpose of attracting subscribers or users. 4.3 Renewal of Franchise. The Franchising Authority and the Grantee agree that any proceedings undertaken by the Franchising Authority that relate to the renewal of the Grantee's Franchise shall be governed by and comply with the provisions of Section 626 of the Cable Act, as amended, unless the procedures and substantive protections set forth therein shall be deemed to be preempted and superseded by the provisions of any subsequent provision of federal or state law. In addition to the procedures set forth in said Section 626(a), the Franchising Authority agrees to notify the Grantee of all of its assessments regarding the identity of future cable-related community needs and interests, as well as, the past performance of the Grantee under the then current Franchise term. The Franchising Authority further agrees that such a preliminary assessments shall be provided to the Grantee promptly so that the Grantee has adequate time to submit a proposal under Section 626(b) of the Cable Act and complete renewal of the Franchise prior to expiration of its term. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Section, the Grantee and the Franchising Authority agree that at any lure during the term of the then current Franchise, while affording the public appropriate notice and opportunity to comment, the Franchising Authority and the Grantee may agree to undertake and finalize informal negotiations regarding renewal of the then current Franchise and the Franchising Authority may grant a renewal thereof. The Grantee and the Franchising Authority consider the terms set forth in this Section to be consistent with the express provisions of Section 626 of the Cable Act. 4.4 Conditions of Sale. If a renewal or extension of the Grantee's Franchise is denied or the Franchise is lawfully terminated, and the Franchising Authority either lawfully acquires ownership of the System or by its actions lawfully effects a transfer of ownership of the System to another party, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at the price determined pursuant to the provisions set forth in Section 627 of the Cable Act. The Grantee and the Franchising Authority agree that in the case of a final determination of a lawful revocation of the Franchise, at the Grantee's request, which shall -10- • be made in its sole discretion, the Grantee shall be given a reasonable opportunity to effectuate a transfer of its System to a qualified third party. The Franchising Authority further agrees that during such a period of time, it shall authorize the Grantee to continue to operate pursuant to the terms of its prior Franchise; however, in no event shall such authorization exceed a period of time greater than six months from the effective date of such revocation. If, at the end of that time, the Grantee is unsuccessful in procuring a qualified transferee or assignee of its System which is reasonably acceptable to the Franchising Authority, the Grantee and the Franchising Authority may avail themselves of any rights they may have pursuant to federal or state law; it being further agreed that the Grantee's continued operation of its System during the six month period shall not be deemed to be a waiver, nor an extingsishment of, any rights of either the Franchising Authority or the Grantee. 4S Transfer of Franchise. The Grantee's right, title, or interest in the Franchise shall not be sold, transferred, assigned, or otherwise encumbered, other than to an entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Grantee, without the prior consent of the Franchisin; Authority, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld. No such consent shall be required, however, for a transfer in trust, by mortgage, cy other hypothecation, or by assignment of any rights, title, or interest of the Grantee in the Franchise or System in order to secure indebtedness. Within 30 days of receiving the request for transfer, the Franchising Authority shall, in accordance with FCC rules and regulations, notify the Grantee in writing of the information it requires to determine the legal, financial and technical qualifications of the transferee. If the Franchising Authority has aot taken action or. the Grantee's request for transfer within 120 days after receiving such request, consent by the Franchising Authority shall be deemed ~ ven. SECTION 5 Compliance and Monitoring 5.1 Testing for Compliance. The Franchising Authority may perform technical tests of the System during reasonable times and in a manner which does not unreasonably interfere with the normal business operations of the Grantee or the System in order to determine whether or not the Grantee is in compliance with the terms hereof and applicable state or federal laws. Except in emergency circumstances, such tests may be undertaken only after giving the Grantee reasonable notice thereof, not to be less than two business days, and providing a representative of the Grantee an opportunity to be present during such tests. In the event that such testing demonstrates that the Grantee has substantially failed to comply with a material requirement hereof, the reasonable costs of such tests shall be borne by the Grantee. In the event that such testing demonstrates that the Grantee has substantially complied with such material provisions hereof, the cost of such testing shall be borne by the Franchising Authority. Except in emergency circumstances, the Franchising Authority agrees that such testing shall be undertaken no more than once a year, and that the results thereof shall be made available to the Grantee. - -11- • • 52 Books and Records, The Grantee agrees that the Franchising Authority upon reasonable notice to the Grantee may review such of its books and records at the Grantee's business office, during normal business hours and on a nondisruptive basis, as is reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with the terms hereof. Such records shall include, but shall not be limited to, any public records required to be kept by the Grantee pursuant to the rules and regulations of the FCC. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, the Grantee shall not be required to disclose information which it reasonably deems to be proprietary or confidential in nature. The Franchising Authority agrees to treat any information disclosed by the Grantee as confidential and only to disclose it to employees, representatives, and agents thereof that have a need to know, or in order to enforce the provisions hereof. The Grantee shall not be required to provide Subscriber information in violation of Section 631 of the Cable Act. SECTION 6 Insurance and Indemnification 6.1 Insurance Requirements. The Grantee shall maintain in full force and effect, at its own cost and expense, during the term of the Franchise, Comprehensive General Liability Insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 combined single limit for bodily injury, and property damage. The Grantee shall provide a Cenificate of Insurance designating the Franchising Authority as an additional insured. Such insurance shall be noncancellable except upon 30 days prior written notice to the Franchising Authority. 62 Indemnification. The Grantee agrees to indemnify, save and hold harmless, and defend the Franchising Authority, its officers, boards and employees, from and against any liability for damages and for any liability or claims resulting from property damage or bodily injury (including accidental death), which arise out of the Grantee's construction, operation, or maintenance of its System, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, provided that the Franchising Authority shall give the Grantee written notice of its obligation to indemnify the Franchising Authority within 10 days of receipt of a claim or action pursuant to this Section. If the Franchising Authority determines that it is necessary for it to employ separate counsel, the costs for such separate counsel shall be the responsibility of the Franchising Authority. SECTION 7 Enforcement and Termination of Franchise 7.1 Notice of Violation. In the event that the Franchising Authority believes that the Grantee has not complied with the terms of the Franchise, it shall notify the Grantee in writing of the exact nature of the alleged noncompliance. -12- 72 Grantee's Ri~*,ht to Cure or ResDOIId. The Grantee shall have 30 days from receipt of the notice described. in Section 7.1: (a) to respond to the Franchising Authority, contesting the assertion of noncompliance, or (b) to cure such default, or (c) in the event that, by the nature of default, such default cannot be cured within the 30-day period, initiate reasonable steps to remedy such default and notify the Franchising Authority of the steps being taken and the projected date that they will be completed. 73 Public Hearing. In the event that the Grantee fails to respond to the notice described in Section 7.1 pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 7.2, or in the event that the alleged default is not remedied within 30 days or the date projected pursuant to 7.2(c) above, the Franchising Authority shall schedule a public hearing to investigate the default. Such public heating shall be held at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Franchising Authority which is scheduled at a time which is no less than five business days therefrom. The Franchising Authority shall notify the Grantee in writing of the time and place of such meeting and provide the Grantee with an opportunity to be heard. 7.4 Enforcement Subject to applicable federal and state law, in the event the Franchising Authority, after such meeting, determines that the Grantee is in default of any provision of the Franchise, the Franchising Authority may: A. Seek specific performance of any provision, which reasonably lends itself to such remedy, as an alternative to damages; B. Commence an action at law for monetary damages or seek other equitable relief; or C. In the case of a substantial default of a material provision of the Franchise, declare the Franchise Agreement to be revoked in accordance with the following: The Franchising Authority shall give written notice to the Grantee of its intent to revoke the Franchise on the basis of a pattern of noncompliance by the Grantee, including one or more instances of substantial noncompliance with a material provision of the Franchise. The notice shall set forth the exact nature of the noncompliance. The Grantee shall have 90 days from such notice to object in writing and to state its reasons for such objection. In the event the Franchising Authority has not received a response satisfactory from the Grantee, it may then seek termination of the Franchise at a public meeting. The Franchising Authority shall cause to be served upon the Grantee, at least 10 days prior to such public meeting, a written notice specifying the time and place of such meeting and stating its intent to request such termination. -13- • At the designated meeting, the Franchising Authority shall give the Grantee an opportunity to state its position on the matter, after which it shall determine whether or not the Franchise shall be revoked. The Grantee may appeal such determination to an appropriate court, which shall have the power to review the decision of the Franchising Authority "de novo" and to modify or reverse such decision as justice may require. Such appeal to the appropriate court must be taken within 60 days of the issuance of the determination of the Franchising Authority. The Franchising Authority may, at its sole discretion, take any lawful action which it deems appropriate to enforce the Franchising Authority's rights urc'er the Franchise in lieu of revocation of the Franchise. 7S Impossibility of Performance. The Grantee shall not be held in default or noncompliance with the provisions of the Franchise, nor suffer any enforcement or penalty relating thereto, where such noncompliance or alleged defaults are caused by strikes, acts of God, power outages, or other events reasor_ably beyond its ability to control. SEC'ITON 8 Miscellaneous Provisions 8.1 Actions of Parties. In any action by the Franchising Authority or the Grantee t:~at is mandated or permitted under the terms hereof, such party shall act in a reasonable, expeditious, and timely manner. Furthermore, in any instance where approval or consent is required under the terms hereof, such approval or consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. 82 Egrual Protection. In the event the Franchising .~uthoriry enters into a franchise, permit, license, authorization, or other agreement of any kind with any other person or entity other than the Grantee to enter into the Franchising Authority's streets and public ways for the purpose of constructing or operating a cable system or providing cable service to any part of the Service Area, the material provisions thereof shall be comparable to those contained herein, in order that one operator not be granted an unfair competitive advantage over another, and to provide all parties equal protection under the law. The Franchising Authority shall not authorize or permit a System to operate within the Franchise area on terms or conditions more favorable or less burdensome to such operator than those applied to the Grantee pursuant to this Franchise. If the Franchising Authority authorizes or permits another System to operate within the Franchise area, it shall do so on condition that such System indemnify and hold harmless the Grantee for and against all costs and expenses incurred in strengthening poles, replacing poles, rearranging attachments, placing underground facilities, and all other costs including those of the Grantee, the Franchising Authority, and utilities, incident to inspections, make ready, and construction of an :__ ~ -14- ! • additional System in the Franchise azea; and the Grantee shall be designated a third party beneficiary of such conditions as aze incorporated into the authorization(s) granted to another System. 83 Theft of Service. In addition to those criminal and civil remedies provided by state and federal law, it shall be a misdemeanor for any person, firm, or corporation to create or make use of any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, with any. part of the System without the express consent of the Grantee. Further, without the express consent of the Grantee, it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to tamper with, remove, or injure any property, equipment, or part of the System or any means of receiving services provided thereto. Subject to applicable federal and state law, the Franchising Authority shall incorporate into its criminal code, if not presently a part thereof, criminal misdemeanor law which will enforce the intent of this Section 8.4 Notice. Unless expressly otherwise agreed between the parties, every notice or response required by this Franchise to be served upon the Franchising Authority or the Grantee shat' be in writing, and shall be deemed to have been duly given to the required party five business days after having been posted in a properly sealed and correctly addressed envelope when hand delivered or sent by certified or registered mail, postage prepaid. The notices or responses to the Franchising Authority shall be addressed as follows: ~:: < ; .::.: Tartc~stng Aut~on ' Adc~ess The notices or responses to the Grantee shad be addressed as follows: -15- The Franchising Authority and the Grantee may designate such other address or addresses from time to time by giving notice to the other. 8S Descriptive Headin,~. The captions to Sections contained herein are intended solely to facilitate the reading thereof. Such captions shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of the text herein. 8.6 Severability. If any Section, sentence, paragraph, term, or provision hereof is determined to be illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, by any court of competent jurisdiction or by any state or federal regulatory authority having jurisdiction thereof, such determination shall have no effect on the validity of any other Section, sentence, paragraph, tern or provision hereof, all of which will remain in full force and effect for the term of the Franchise; or any renewal or renewals thereof. 8.7 Effective Date. The effective date of this Franchise is ,pursuant to the provisions of applicable law. This franchise shall expire on ,unless extended by the mutual agreement of the parties. Passed, adopted and effective this day of , 19_, subject to applicable federal, state and local law. .__ -16- • • IN ~P.f]ClVESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have entered into this Franchise Agreement on , 19_ By: Title: Clerk Accepted this day of , 19 ,subject to applicable federal, state and local law. By: Title: -17- Fr: Teri Ottens, AIC Re: Model Franchise Ordinance CableT~ ~ e~ P~°'~ 5,° y The ordinance actually looks pretty good. It covers most of the bases that need to be covered. There are a few things that I might look at changing: 1) I have enclosed a broader definition of what Cable services are. I think this will help in the future when new technology allows cable to be brought to homes over their phone lines or in other forms. 2) I have also included a broader definition of "Gross Revenues." I think this is better and covers more! 3) A fifteen year term is pretty long in this industry -most experts recommend no more than 10! 4) In relation to service there are several things you want to watch out for. First you don't want a company "cherry picking" only the best neighborhoods. The language you have merged with the language I have included concerning income will avoid this. I checked with other franchises and it is pretty standard to allow the company some latitude in sparsely populated areas such as your ordinance does -but the distance and amount of homes is certainly negotiable! However be prepared for them to show you how much money they will lose if these requirements are not met. I hope this helps! I'm sorry it took so long to respond. Call me if you have further questions. 1 ~ 9-25-44: Performance Bond - = ~ - - ~ `~ - ~ = ~' - 2 9-25-45: (Reserved) 3 9-25-46: Equalization~of Civic Contributions .. . 4 9-25-47 : -Penalty ~ ~ -: . _ _ . .. _ 5 9-2~-48: Inconsistency 6 9-25-49: Severability 9-25-1: DEFINITIONS: A. "Access channels" means channels to be used for educational purposes and by government and public agencies and/or their representatives (commonly .referred to as "PEG" channels) provided at no additional charge to the City, programming source, or the subscriber. ~~ B. "A.C.H.D." means that political subdivision of the State of ~ ~~ Idaho responsible for streets and highways in Ada County, Idaho. C. "The Act" means Title VI of the Communications Act of 19.34 as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act 1992, and•any subsequent amendments. D. "Addressability" means the ability of a system allowing a franchisee to authorize by remote control customer terminals to receive, change or cancel any or all specified programming. E. "Affiliate" means a condition of being united, being in close connection, allied, or attached as a member or branch. 4 F. "Applicant" means any .person or entity that applies for a franchise. G. "Basic cable" is the tier of service regularly provided to all subscribers including the retransmission of local broadcast television signals. H. "Cable services" means 1. the one-way transmission to a subscriber of video programming, other programming service or data communication by a subscriber, 2. subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection by the subscriber of such video programming, or 3. any other programming service or data communication by a subscriber. I. "Cable system" means a facility, consisting of a set of closed ~i *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 5 t7 51 ,: j-,_ .. -. . ... _~ •. _ - ;, transtnission~ ~ paths ~.~ Viand associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service and other .service to subscribers.. . J. "Channel" means a single path or section of the spectrum which carries a cable service. IC. "City" means the City of Boise, a municipal corporation of the State of Idaho.- I,. "Council" means the present governing body of the City or any future board constituting the legislative body of the City. M. "Data Communication" means 1. the movement of encoded information by means of electrical, electronic, or light transmission systems; or 2. the transmission of data from one point to another over a cable system. N. "Disconnection" means the discontinuance of all cable service to a subscriber by a cable operator. O. "FCC" means the Federal Communications Commission, a regulatory agency of the United States government. p. "Franchise" shall mean the initial authorization, or renewal thereof, issued by the City, whether such authorization is designated as a franchise, permit, license, resolution, contract, certificate or otherwise, which authorizes construction or operation of the cable system for the purpose of offering cable service or other service to subscribers. Q. "Franchisee" means the person to whom a franchise, as herein above defined, is granted by the Council under this Ordinance and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of said person subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the City. . "Gross revenues" means any and all receipts and revenues J~~~ R received directly or indirectly from all sources by the o erator of a cable system or attributable to a cable syste ~'t'n~ P within the corporate limits of the City. "Gross revenues" is intended to include, but is not limited to, all income without any offsetting of expenses, costs or . depreciation, derived from: 1. Subscribers receiving goods, equipment, equipment service, or cable service from or through the use of a *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 4. 1 cable system 2 installation 3 specifically 4 -: interest, or .. ~. .. ~ .-. ' .. ~ •. ~_-tit ..y ~+~M~ •i-_ .,1. .1~: - ....~ .. ~ .• .. ~ i°~' r.. ~ ' ,~ Pal . within :the City; revenues for -` service, ~`~~ '~~ and repair; and, any and all charges not - exempt herein such as delinquency fees,~:~:~ ... finance charges ; -.and, ~ ~ - -: - ~ - - - - ~ - Z. Home shopping channel sales made within City. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, "gross revenues" is not intended to include income, credits or , revenues attributable to the operation of a cable system within the City arising from 1. Real property transactions; 2. Taxes paid by a subscriber, the operator of a cable system within the City or another person which are imposed on any subscriber; 3. Interest (other than interest charged subscribers of the cable system within the City or advertisers for services provided or delivered by the cable system within the City) or dividends on investments received ~by the operator of a cable system within the City unrelated to the delivery of cable services within the City; or 4. Net uncollectible debts. S. "Headend" means the electronic equipment located at the start of a cable system, usually including antennas, preamplifiers, frequency converters, demodulator and related equipment. T. "Installation" means the connection of the cable system to subscribers' terminals. U. "Institutional services" means a cable systea designated principally for the provision of non-entertainment services to schools, public agencies or other non-profit agencies, separate and distinct from the subscriber network, or on secured channels of the subscriber network. V. "NCTA" means the National Cable Television Association. W. "Normal business hours" means those hours during which most similar business in the City are open to the service of customers and shall include at least four (4) consecutive hours per weekday and either one (1) evening per week or one (1) Saturday or Sunday. X. "Normal operating conditions"'means those service conditions which are within the control or are reasonably anticipated by the cable operator, including special promotions, pay-per-view *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 5. i- y ; ~ •. Trw.T '\.'V i.'...a. -!e- .. 'f!- .. ~.• ~ \ - 1 9-ZS-6: POLICE •POAERS:~. _: ~ .._..~~.'yL....~.ri. - -. --. {• ~. _; _ _.. ~ . 2 ... :.: - - ... - -: _ _ . 3 In accepting any~~franchise, ~a franchisee acknowledges that its ~ - ~- 4 rights .hereunder are subject to the legitimate ;rights of the_ _.. 5 police power of the City :to adopt and enforce .general 6 ordinances necessary to protect the safety and welfare of the 7 public and it agrees to comply with all applicable general 8 laws enacted by the City pursuant to such power. 9 - . 10 11 9-25-7: DEVELOPMENT OF CITY PLAN FOR CABLE SYSTEMS 12 13 The City is in the process of formulating an overall cable 14 system plan with objectives to maximize service and efficiency 25 to the community, encourage healthy competition within the 16 market, and prepare for the technological advances in the 17 future. In carrying out adoption of an overall policy, City 18 shall study the industry, its community needs, and shall plan 19 for development. The objective for City is to set forth 20 policies and procedures which_ensure City citizens receive a 21 variety of quality programming, cable services and data 22 communications; reliable, clear signals; and prompt, courteous 23 service. 24 25 26 9-25-8: RIILES AND REGULATIONS BY THE CITY: 27 28 A. In addition to the inherent powers of the City to regulate and 29 control any franchise it issues, the authority granted to it 30 by the Act, and those powers expressly reserved by the City, 31 or agreed to and provided for in a franchise, the right and 32 power is hereby reserved by the City to .promulgate such 33 additional regulations of general applicability to all 34 franchisees which are reasonable and necessary in the exercise 35 of its lawful powers. 36 37 B. The City Council reserves the right to delegate its authority 38 for franchise administration. Any delegation of authority may ;9 be accomplished by resolution. Notice of_any delegation shall 40 be transmitted to all franchisees. 41 42 43 9-25-9: TECSNICAL STANDARDS: 44 45 ~ A. Subject to Federal, State and local law, a franchisee shall • 46 comply with FCC rules, Part 76, Subpart K, Section 76.601 47 through 76.610 as amended, hereafter, and, at the minimum, the 48 following: 49 ~ ' 50 ~ 1. Applicable City, County, A.C.h.D., State and 51 National/Federal Codes and Ordinances; *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 11. !- .. - ~ .= 2 .~- °~ Applicable :-Utility -Joint Attachment.. Practices; ~ ~3. The National Electric Safety Code;~-ANSI C2; E __ - .. - .. .. . > 4. Local Utility Code Requirements; 5. 'Local Rights-of-Way and A.C.H.D. Procedures. B. PREVENTIVE~MAINTENANCE: A comprehensive routine preventive,. maintenance program shall be developed, effected, and put into operation to ensure continued top quality cable communications operating standards in conformance with FCC Regulations Part 76 or as may be amended. 9-25-10: PARENTAL CONTROL DEVICES: Upon request by a subscriber a franchisee will make available and may charge the subscriber a fee not to exceed the franchisee's actual cost including applicable handling fees, a device by which the subscriber can prohibit viewing of a particular cable service. 9-25-11: ADAPTATION TO NEW TECHNOLOGY: At the periodic meetings as provided herein, the City and franchisees shall discuss technological developments and their incorporation into the services provided. 9-25-12: DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED: Franchisee shall provide sound enhancing devices to reques~ing subscriber for a hearing impaired subscriber or subscriber's family member in compliance with the Act. This require^ent may be met by providing closed caption programming. 9-25-13: CONSTRIICTION STANDARDS: A. All facilities constructed under this Ordinance shall be placed and maintained at such places and positions in or upon such public ways and public places as shall not interfere with the passage of traffic and the use of adjoining property, and shall conform to all of the applicable laws, rules or regulations. B. A franchisee is required in all cases to request and apply for all construction variances for system extension, subscriber *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 12. l.. a ~ . 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 _ 10 11 - 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 3. The number of•_homes passed, :: _ ;;. _ _ . l,.,. _,. ~ Y ~'_a ~ .. __ ~ ~', 4. The number of subscribers with basic services; _ -.~ 5. The number of subscribers with premium services; -~~-- ~ ~- 6. The number of hook-ups in period; 7. The number of disconnects in period; '-~8. Total number of miles of cable in City; ~~ ' 9. Summary of complaints received by category, length of time taken to resolve and action taken to provide resolution; 10. A statement of its current billing practices, and a sample copy of the bill format; 11. A current copy of its subscriber service contract; and, 12. Report on Operations - Such other reports with respect to its local operation, affairs, transactions or property that may be appropriate. 27 9-25-35: PROGRAMMING: 28 29 For informational purposes a franchisee shall file a listing 30 of its programming and the tiers in which they are placed. 31 . 32 33 34 9-25-36: NON-DISCRIMINATION: 35 36 A. A franchisee shall not, as to rates, charges, service 37 facilities, rules, regulations or in any other respect, make 38 or grant any preferences or advantage to any person nor 39 subject any person to any prejudice or disadvantage; provided, 40 that nothing in this Ordinance shall be deemed to prohibit the 41 establishment of a graduated scale of charges and classified 42 rate schedules to which any customer coming within such 43 classification would be entitled, and provided further that 44 connection and/or service charges may be waived .or modified 45 during promotional campaigns of a franchisee. 46 47 B. A franchisee will not deny access to cable communications 48 service to any. group of potential residential subscribers 49 because of the income of the residents of the local area in 50 '~~ which the group resides. 51 *MASTER CABLE ORDINANCE - Page 23. • TELE-COMMUNICATIONS, INC. MODEL FRANCHISE AGREEMENT June 8,1993 Informal proposal For discussion purposes only TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I definition of Terms ....................... 1 1.1 Terms ................................................. 1 SECTION 2 Grant of Franchise ....................... 2 2.1 rant ................................................. 2 2.2 Ter:n .................................................. 3 SECTION 3 Standards of Service ...................... . 3.1 Conditions of Street Occupancy ............................. . 3.2 Restoration of Public Ways ..... .......................... . 3.3 Relocation at Request of the Franchising Authority .............. . 3.4 Relocation at Request of Third Party ......................... . 3.5 Trimming, of Trees and Shrubbery ........................... . 3.6 Safety Requirements ..................................... . 3.7 Aerial and UnderrQround Construction ........................ . 3.8 Required Extensions of Service ............................. . 3.9 Subscriber Char}es for Extensions of Service ................... . 3.10 Service to Public Buildings ................................ . 3.11 Emerency Use ......................................... . 3.12 Customer Service Standards ................................ . 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 J 5 6 SE CTION 4 Regulation ~?j- the Franchising Authority 4.1 Franchise Fee ........................................... 8 4.3 Renewal of Franchise ..................................... 9 4.4 Conditions of Sale ....................................... 10 4.5 Transfer of Franchise .................................... 10 SECTION 5 GomQliance and Monitoring ................... 11 5.1 Testing for Compliance ................................... 11 5.2 Books and Records ...................................... 11 SECTION 6 Insurance and Indemnification .................. 11 6.1 Insurance Requirements .................................. 11 6.2 Indemnification ......................................... 12 • ~ SECTION 7 orcement and Termination of Franchise ............. 12 7.1 Notice of Violation ...................................... 12 7.2 Grantee's Right to Cure or Respond ......................... 12 7.3 Public Hearing ......................................... 12 7.4 Enforcement ........................................... 12 SECTION 8 Miscellaneous Provisions .................... 13 8.1 Actions of Parties ....................................... 14 8.2 Equal Protection ........................................ 14 8.3 Theft of Service ......................................... 14 8.4 Notice ................................................ 14 8.5 Descriptive Heading ..................................... 15 8.6 Severability ............................................ 15 8.7 Effective Date .......................................... 15 FRANCHISE AGREEMENT This Franchise Agreement (this "Franchise") is between the f Cou~ity 'T~e) of .. .:. , ;: .. ~ ~ acne o Cvaity), hereinafter referred to as "Franchising Authority" and sari 'e ...:_ . ante}, hereinafter referred to as "Grantee." The Franchising Authority, having determined that the financial, legal, and technical ability of the Grantee is reasonably sufficient to provide services, facilities, and equipment necessary to meet the future cable-related needs of the community, desires to enter into this Franchise Agreement with the Grantee for the construction and operation of a cable system on the terms set forth herein. SECTION 1 Definition of Terms 1.I Terms. For the purpose of this Franchise, the following terms, phrases, words, and abbreviations shall have the meanings ascribed to them below. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number: A. "Basic Cable" is the lowest priced tier of service that includes the retransmission of local broadcast television signals. B. "Cable Act" collectively means the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 and the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 199?, as amended. C. "FCC" means Federal Communications Commission, or successor governmental entity thereto. D. "Franchise" shall mean the initial authorization, or renewal thereof, issued by the Franchising Authority, whether such authorization is designated as a franchise, permit, license, resolution, contract, certificate, or otherwise, which authorizes construction and operation of the System. E. "Franchtsing Authority" means the (Cat~un}~ 'F~pe) of Na~ie of ;,~o~''u~~ti) or the lawful successor, transferee, or assignee thereof F. "Grantee" means fCs~~ee 'amp), or the lawful successor, transferee, or ,, .... assignee thereof. -1- G. "Gross Revenues" mean any revenue received by the Grantee from the operation of the System in the Service Area, provided, however, that such phrase shall not include any fees or taxes which are imposed directly or indirectly on any Subscriber thereof by any governmental unit or agency, and which are collected by the Grantee on behalf of such governmental unit or agency. H. "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or governmental entity. I. "Public Way" shall mean the surface of, and the space above and below, any public street, highway, freeway, bridge, land path, alley, court, boulevard, sidewalk, parkway, way, lane, public way, drive, circle, or other publicright-of- way, including, but not limited to, public utility easements, dedicated utility strips, or rights-of-way dedicated for compatible uses and any temporary or permanent fixtures or improvements located thereon now or hereafter held by the Franchising Authority in the Service Area which shall entitle the Franchising Authority and the Grantee to the use thereof for uhe purpose of installing, operating, repairing, and maintaining the System. Public Way shall also mean any easement now or hereafter held by the Franchising Authority within the Service Area for the purpose of public travel, or for utility or public service use dedicated for compatible uses, and shall include other easements or rights-of--way as shall within their proper use and meaning entitle the Franchising Authority and the Grantee to the use thereof for the purposes of installing and operating the Grantee's System ~ over poles, wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, attachments, and other property as maybe ordinarily necessary and pertinent to the System. J. "Service Area" means the present municipal boundaries of the Franchising Authority, and shall include any additions thereto by annexation or other legal means. K. "Subscriber" means a person or user of the System who lawfully receives communications and other services therefrom with the Grantee's express permission. L. "System" shall mean a system of antennas, cables, wires, lines, fiber optic cable, towers, waveguides or other conductors, converters, equipment or facilities, used for producing, receiving, amplifying, storing, processing, or distributing audio, video, digital or other forms of signals to and from Subscribers. -2- SECTION 2 Grant of Franchise 21 fit. The Franchising Authority hereby grants to the Grantee a nonexclusive Franchise which authorizes the Grantee to construct and operate a System in, along, among, upon, across, above, over, under, or in any manner connected with Public Ways within the Service Area and for that purpose to erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, maintain, or retain in, on, over, under, upon, across, or along any Public Way and all extensions thereof and additions thereto, such poles, wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, pedestals, amplifiers, appliances, attachments, and other related property or equipment as may be necessary or appurtenant to the System. A. Because the communications industry and the regulatory environment in which it operates are rapidly changing, and because increasing competitive pressures are playing a role in the future of the industry, nothing contained herein shall require the grantee to provide video, voice or data service(s) to the city on more preferential terms than any provider of competitive service(s). 2 ~ Term. The Franchise granted 4ereunder shall be for an initial term of 15 years commencing on the effective date of the Franchise as set forth below, unless otherwise lawfully terminated in accordance with the terms of this Franchise. SECTION 3 Standards of Service 3.1 Conditions of Street Occupancy. All transmission and distribution structures, poles. other lines, and equipment installed or erected by the Grantee pursuant to the terms hereof shall be located so as to cause a minimum of interference with the proper use of Public Ways and with the rights and reasonable convenience of property owners who own property that adjoins any of such Public Ways. 3.2 Restoration of Public Ways. If during the course of the Grantee's construction, operation, or maintenance of the System there occurs a disturbance of any Public Way by the Grantee, it shall, at its expense, replace and restore such Public Way to a condition reasonably comparable to the condition of the Public Way existing immediately prior to such disturbance. 33 Relocation at Request of the Franchising Authority. Upon its receipt of reasonable advance notice, not to be less than five business days, the Grantee shall, at its own expense, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate in the Public Way, or remove from the Public Way, any property of the Grantee when lawfully required by the Franchising Authority by reason of traffic conditions, public safety, street abandonment, freeway and street construction, change or establishment of street grade, installation of sewers, drains, gas or water pipes, or any other type of structures or improvements by the Franchising -3- ~ ~ Authority; but, the Grantee shall in all cases have the right of abandonment of its property. If public funds are available to any person using such street, easement, or right of way for the purpose of defraying the cost of any of the foregoing, the Franchising Authority shall make application for such funds on behalf of the Grantee. 3.4 Relocation at Request of Third Party. The Grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a building moving permit issued by the Franchising Authority, temporarily raise or lower its wires to permit the moving of such building, provided: (a) the expense of such temporary raising or lowering of wires is paid by said person, including, if required by the Grantee, making such payment in advance; and (b) the Grantee is given not less than 10 business days advance written notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes. 3S Trimming_of Trees and Shrubbery. The Grantee shall have the authority to trim trees or other natural growth overhanging any of its System in the Service Area so as to prevent branches from coming in contact with the Grantee's wires, cables, or other equipment. The Grantee shall reasonably compensate the Franchising Authority for any damages caused by such trimming, or shall, in iu sole discretion and at its own cost and expense, reasonably replace all t.-ees or shrubs damaged as a result of any construction of the System undertaken by the Grantee. Such replacement shall satisfy any and all obligations the Grantee may have to the Franchising Authority pursuant to the terms of this Section. 3.6 Safety Requirements. Construction, installation, and maintenance of the System shall be performed in an orderly and workmanlike manner. All such work shall be performed in substantial accordance with applicable FCC or other federal, state, and local regulations and the National Electric Safety Code. The System shall not unreasonably endanger or interfere with the safety of persons or property in the Service Area. 3.7 Aerial and Underground Construction. In those areas of the Service Area where all of the transmission or distribution fac~.lities of the respective public utilities providing telephone communications and electric services are underground, the Grantee likewise shall construct, operate, and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground; provided that such facilities are actually capable of receiving the Grantee's cable and other equipment without technical degradation of the System's signal quality. In those areas of the Service Area where the transmission or distribution facilities of the respective public utilities providin, telephone communications, and electric services are both aerial and underground, the Grantee shall have the sole discretion to construct, operate, and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities, or any part thereof, aerially or underground. Nothing contained in this Section shall require the Grantee to construct, operate, and maintain underground any ground-mounted appurtenances such as subscriber taps, line extenders, system passive devices (splitters, directional couplers), amplifiers, power supplies, pedestals, or other related equipment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section, in the event that all of the transmission or distribution facilities of the respective public utilities providing telephone communications and electric services -4- • are placed underground after the effective date of this Franchise, the Grantee shall only be required to construct, operate, and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground if it is given reasonable notice and access to the public utilities' facilities at the time that such are placed underground. 3.8 Required Extensions of Service. The System, as constructed as of the date of the passage and final adoption of this Franchise, substantially complies with the material provisions hereof. Whenever the Grantee shall receive a request for service from at least 15 residences within 1320 cable-bearing strand feet (one-quarter cable mile) of its trunk or distribution cable, it shall extend its System to such Subscribers at no cost to said Subscribers for System extension, other than the usual connection fees for all Subscribers; provided that such extension is technically feasible, and if it will not adversely affect the operation, financial condition, or market development of the System, or as provided for under Section 3.9 of this Franchise. In case of new construction or property development where utilities are to be placed underground, the developer or property owner shall give the Grantee reasonable notice of not less .than 30 days prior to such construction or development, of the particular date on which open trenching will be available for the Grantee's installation of conduit, pedestals and/or vaults, and laterals to be provided at the .Grantee's expense. The Grantee shall also provide specifications as needed for trenching. Cost of trenching and easements required to bring service to the development shall be borne by the developer or property owner. 3.9 Subscriber Charges for Extensions of Service. No Subscriber shall be refused service arbitrarily. However, for unusual circumstances, such as a Subscriber's request to locate his cable drop underground, existence of more than 150 feet of distance from distribution cable to connection of service to Subscribers, or a density of less than 15 residences per 1320 cable-bearing strand feet of trunk or distribution cable, service may be made available on the basis of a capital contribution in aid of construction, including cost of material, labor, and easements. For the purpose of determining the amount of capital contribution in aid of construction to be borne by the Grantee and Subscribers in the area in which service may be expanded, the Grantee will contribute an amount equal to the construction and other costs per mile, multiplied by a fraction whose numerator equals the actual number of residences per 1320 cable-bearing strand feet of its trunks or distribution cable, and whose denominator equals 15 residences. Subscribers who request service hereunder will bear the remainder of the construction and other costs on a.pro rata basis. The Grantee may require that the payment of the capital contribution in aid of construction borne by such potential Subscribers be paid in advance. 3.10 Service to Public Building,. The Grantee shall, upon request, provide without charge, one outlet of Basic Service to those Franchising Authority offices, fire station(s), police station(s), and public school building(s) that are passed by its System. The outlets of Basic Service shall not be used to distribute or sell services in or throughout such buildings, nor shall such outlets be located in areas open to the public. Users of such outlets shall hold the Grantee harmless from any and all liability or claims arising out of their use of such -5- ~ ~ outlets, including but not limited to, those arising from copyright liability. The Grantee shall not be required to provide an outlet to such buildings where the drop line from the feeder cable to said buildings or premises exceeds or unless the appropriate governmental entity agrees to pay the incremental cost of such drop line in excess of 150 cable feet. If additional outlets of Basic Service are provided to such buildings, the building owner shall pay the usual installation fees associated therewith, including, but not limited to, labor and materials. 3.11 Emergency Use. In the case of any emergency or disaster, the Grantee shall, upon request of the Franchising Authority, make available its facilities for the Franchising Authority to provide emergency information and instructions during the emergency or disaster period. Except to the extent expressly prohibited by law, the Franchising Authority shall hold the Grantee, its employees, officers, and assigns, harmless from any claims arising out of the emergency use of its facilities by the Franchising Authority, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. 3.12 C`.istomer Serrice Standards. (1) system office hours and teleohone availability. (A) The Grantee will maintain a local, toll-free or collect call telephone access line which will be available to Subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (i) Trained representatives of the Grantee will be available to respond to Subscriber telephone inquiries during Normal Business Hours, as defined herein. (ii) After Normal Business Hours, an access line will be available to be answered by a service or an automated response system, including a phone answering system. Inquiries received after Normal Business Hours must be responded to by a trained representative of the Grantee on the next business day. (B) Under Normal Operating Conditions, as defined herein, telephone answer time by a customer representative, including wait time, will not exceed 30 seconds when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer time will not exceed 30 seconds. These standards will be met no less than 90 percent of the time under Normal Operating Conditions, as measured by the Grantee on a quarterly basis. (C) The Grantee shall not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards set fonh above unless an historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply with such standards. (D) Under Normal Operating Conditions, the Subscriber will receive a busy signal less than 3 percent of the time. -6- (E) Customer service center and bill payment locations will be open at least during Normal Business Hours and will be conveniently located. (2) Installations outages and service calls. Under Normal Operating Conditions, each of the following four standards will be met no less than 95 percent of the time, as measured by the Grantee on a quarterly basis: (A) Standard installations will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed. "Standard" installations are those that are located up to 1?5 feet from the existing distribution system. (B) Excluding conditions beyond its control, the Grantee will begin working on Service Interruptions, as defined herein, promptly and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known. The Grantee will begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. (C) The Grantee will provide "appointment window" alternatives for installations, service calls, and other installation activities, which will be either a specil-ic time or, at maximum, afour-hour time block during Normal Business Hours. (D) The Grantee shall not cancel an appointment with a Subscriber after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment. (E) If a representarive of the Grantee is rnnn;ng late for an appointment with a Subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the Subscriber will be contacted. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the Subscriber. (3) Communications between Grantee and Subscribers. (A) Notifications to Subscribers: (1) The Grantee shall provide written information on each of the following areas at the time of installation of service, at least annually to all Subscribers, and at any time upon request: (i) products and services offered; (ii) prices and options for services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services; (iii) installation and service maintenance policies; (iv) instructions on how to use the service; -7- • (v) channel positions of programming carried on the System; and (vi) billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the local Franchising Authority's cable office. (2) Subscribers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible through announcements on the System and in writing. Notice will be given to Subscribers a minimum of 30 days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the Grantee. In addition, the Grantee shall notify Subscribers 30 days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by the preceding paragraph. (B) Billing: (i) Bills will be clear, concise and understandable. Bills will be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Bills will. also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits. (ii) In case of a billing dispute, the Grantee will respond to a written complaint from a Subscriber within 30 days from receipt of the complaint. (C) Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than the return of all subscriber equipment provided by the Grantee and, either (i) the Subscriber's next billing cycle following resolution of the request or 30 days, whichever is later. (D) Credits for service will be issued no later than the Subscriber's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted. (4) Definitions: For purposes of this Section, the following definitions shall apply: (A) Normal Business Hours -The term "Normal Business Hours" means those hours during which most similar businesses in the community are open to serve Subscribers. In all cases, "Normal Business Hours" shall include some evening hours at least one night per week and/or some weekend hours. The Grantee will notify its Subscribers and the Franchising Authority of iu Normal Business Hours. (B) Normal Operating Conditions -The term "Normal Operating Conditions" means those service conditions which are within the control of the Grantee. Those conditions which are not within the control of the Grantee include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, civil disturbances, power outages, telephone network outages, and severe or unusual weather conditions. Those conditions which are ordinarily within the control of the Grantee include, but are not limited to, special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate -8- increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods, and maintenance or upgrade of the System. (C) Service Interruption -The term "service interruption" means the loss of picture or sound on one or more channels. SECTION 4 Re ation the Franchising Authority 4.1 Franchise Fee. A. The Grantee shall pay to the Franchising Authority a franchise fee equal to 5% percent of Gross Revenues (as defined in Section 1.1 of this Franchise) received by the Grantee from the operation of the System on an annual basis; provided, however, that the Grantee may credit against any such payments: (i) any tax, fee, or assessment of any kind imposed by the Franchising Authority or other governmental entity on a cable operator, or Subscriber, or both, solely because of their status as such; (ii) any tax, fee or assessment of general applicability ~x~hich is unduly discriminatory against cable operators or Subscribers (including any such tax, fee, or assessment imposed, both on utilities and cable operators and their services), and (iii) any other special tax, assessment, or fee such as a business, occupation, and entertainment tax. For the purpose of this Section, the 12-month period applicable under the Franchise for the computation of the franchise fee shall be a calendar year, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the Franchising Authority and the Grantee. The franchise fee payment shall be due and payable 90 days after the close of the preceding calendar year. Each payment shall be accompanied by a brief report from a representative of the Grantee showing the basis for the computation. B. Limitation on Franchise Fee Actions. The period of limitation for recovery of any franchise fee payable hereunder shall be five years from the date on which payment by the Grantee is due. Unless within five years from and after such payment due date the Franchising Authority initiates a lawsuit for recovery of such franchise fees in a court of competent jurisdiction, such recovery shall be barred and the Franchising Authority shall be estopped from asserting any claims whatsoever against the Grantee relating to any such alleged deficiencies. 42 Rates and Charges. A. A. The City may adopt the requisite ordinances to regulate rates for the provision of Basic Cable TV Service and equipment as defined, provided and permitted by the 1984 Communications, as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 ("1992 Act") together with implementing regulations promulgated by the FCC. -9- • • B. The Grantee shall file with the City on December 31 of each year a full schedule of all subscribers and user rates and all other charges including, but not limited to, pay TV, lease channel and discrete services, made in connection with the cable communications system. (1) All rates shall be published on file with the City. (2) The Grantee shall not dis~m~nate in the assessment, levy, charge, imposition or collection of rates on the basis of age, race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status. C. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prohibit the reduction or •Naiving of charges in conjunction with promotional campaigns for the purpose of attracting subscribers or users. 4.3 Renewal of Franchise. The Franchising Authority and the Grantee agree that any proceedings undertaken by the Franchising Authority that relate to the renewal of the Grantee's Franchise shall be governed by and comply with the provisions of Section 626 of the Cable Act, as amended, unless the procedures and substantive protections set forth therein shall be deemed to be preempted and superseded by the provisions of any subsequent provision of federal or state law. In addition to the procedures set forth in said Section 626(a), the Franchising Authority agrees to notify the Grantee of all of its assessments regarding the identity of future cable-related community needs and interests, as well as, the past performance of the Grantee under the then current Franchise term. The Franchising Authority further agrees that such a preliminary assessments shall be provided to the Grantee promptly so that the Grantee has adequate time to submit a proposal under Section 626(b) of the Cable Act and complete renewal of the Franchise prior to expiration of its term. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Section, the Grantee and the Franchising Authority agree that at any tune during the term of the then current Franchise, while affording the public appropriate notice and opportunity to comment, the Franchising Authority and the Grantee may agree to undertake and finalize informal negotiations regarding renewal of the then current Franchise and the Franchising Authority may grant a renewal thereof. The Grantee and the Franchising Authority consider the terms set forth in this Section to be consistent with the express provisions of Section 626 of the Cable Act. 4.4 Conditions of Sale. If a renewal or extension of the Grantee's Franchise is denied or the Franchise is lawfully terminated, and the Franchising Authority either lawfully acquires ownership of the System or by its actions lawfully effects a transfer of ownership of the System to another party, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at the price determined pursuant to the provisions set forth in Section 627 of the Cable Act. The Grantee and the Franchising Authority agree that in the case of a final determination of a lawful revocation of the Franchise, at the Grantee's request, which shall -10- • be made in its sole discretion, the Grantee shall be given a reasonable opportunity to effectuate a transfer of its System to a qualified third party. The Franchising Authority further agrees that during such a period of time, it shall authorize the Grantee to continue to operate pursuant to the terms of its prior Franchise; however, in no event shall such authorization exceed a period of time greater than six months from the effective date of such revocation. If, at the end of that time, the Grantee is unsuccessful in procuring a qualified transferee or assignee of its System which is reasonably acceptable to the Franchising Authority, the Grantee and the Franchising Authority may avail themselves of any rights they may have pursuant to federal or state law; it being further agreed that the Grantee's continued operation of its System during the six month period shall not be deemed to be a waiver, nor an extingtishment of, any rights of either the Franchising Authority or the Grantee. 4S Transfer of Franchise. The Grantee's right, title, or interest in the Franchise shall not be sold, transferred, assigned, or otherwise encumbered, other than to an entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Grantee, without the prior consent of the Franchising Authority, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld. No such consent shall be required, however, for a transfer in trust, by mortgage, cy other hypothecation, or by assignment of any rights, title, or interest of the Grantee in the Franchise or System in order to secure indebtedness. Within 30 days of receiving the request for transfer, the Franchising Authority shall, in accordance with FCC rules and regulations, notify the Grantee in writing of the information it requires to determine the legal, financial and technical qualifications of the transferee. If the Franchising Authority has not taken action or. the Grantee's request for transfer within 120 days after receiving such request, consent by the Franchising Authority shall be deemed given. SECTION 5 Compliance and Monitoring 5.1 Testing for Compliance. The Franchising Authority may perform technical tests of the System during reasonable times and in a manner which does not unreasonably interfere with the normal business operations of the Grantee or the System in order to determine whether or not the Grantee is in compliance with the terms hereof and applicable state or federal laws. Except in emergency circumstances, such tests may be undertaken only after giving the Grantee reasonable notice thereof, not to be less than two business days, and providing a representative of the Grantee an opportunity to be present during such tests. In the event that such testing demonstrates that the Grantee has substantially failed to comply with a material requirement hereof, the reasonable costs of such tests shall be borne by the Grantee. In the event that such testing demonstrates that the Grantee has substantially complied with such material provisions hereof, the cost of such testing shall be borne by the Franchising Authority. Except in emergency circumstances, the Franchising Authority agrees that such testing shall be undertaken no more than once a year, and that the results .thereof shall be made available to the Grantee. - -11- ~ ~ 52 Books and Records. The Grantee agrees that the Franchising Authority upon reasonable notice to the Grantee may review such of its books and records at the Grantee's business office, during normal business hours and on a nondisruptive basis, as is reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with the terms hereof. Such records shall include, but shall not be limited to, any public records required to be kept by the Grantee pursuant to the rules and regulations of the FCC. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, the Grantee shall not be required to disclose information which it reasonably deems to be proprietary or confidential in nature. The Franchising Authority agrees to treat any information disclosed by the Grantee as confidential and only to disclose it to employees, representatives, and agents thereof that have a need to know, or in order to enforce the provisions hereof. The Grantee shall not be required to provide Subscriber information in violation of Section 6~ 1 of the Cable Act. ~ECTTON 6 Insurance and Indemnification 6.1 Insurance Requirements. The Grantee shall maintain in full force and effect, at its own cost and expense, during the term of the Franchise, Comprehensive General Liability Insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 combined single limit for bodily injury, and property damage. The Grantee shall provide a Certificate of Insurance designating the Franchising Authority as an additional insured. Such insurance shall be noncancellable except upon 30 days prior written notice to the Franchising Authority. 62 Indemnification. The Grantee agrees to indemnify, save and hold harmless, and defend the Franchising Authority, its officers, boards and employees, from and against any liability for damages and for any liability or claims resulting from property damage or bodily injury (including accidental death), which arise out of the Grantee's construction, operation, or maintenance of its System, incluaing, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, provided that the Franchising Authority shall give the Grantee written notice of its obligation to indemnify the Franchising Authority within 10 days of receipt of a claim or action pursuant to this Section. If the Franchising Authority determines that it is necessary for it to employ separate counsel, the costs for such separate counsel shall be the responsibility of the Franchising Authority. SECTION 7 Enforcement and Termination of Franchise 7.1 Notice of Violation. In the event that the Franchising Authority believes that the Grantee has not complied with the terms of the Franchise, it shall notify the Grantee in writing of the exact nature of the alleged noncompliance. .__ -12- • • 72 Grantee's Riaht to Cure or Respond. The Grantee shall have 30 days from receipt of the notice described in Section 7.1: (a) to respond to the Franchising Authority, contesting the assertion of noncompliance, or (b) to cure such default, or (c) in the event that, by the nature of default, such default cannot be cured within the 30-day period, initiate reasonable steps to remedy such default and notify the Franchising Authority of the steps being taken and the projected date that they will be completed. 73 Public Hearin,,,g. In the event that the Grantee fails to respond to the notice described in Section 7.1 pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 7.2, or in the event that the alleged default is not remedied within 30 days or the date projected pursuant to 7.2(c) above, the Franchising Authority shall schedule a public hearing to investigate the default. Such public hearing shall be held at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Franchising Authority which is scheduled at a time which is no less than five business days therefrom. The Franchising Authority shall notify the Grantee in writing of the time and place of such meeting and provide the Grantee with an opportunity to be heard. 7.4 Enforcement. Subject to applicable federal and state law, in the event the Franchising Authority, after such meeting, determines that the Grantee is in default of any provision of the Franchise, the Franchising Authority may: A. Seek specific performance of any provision, which reasonably lends itself to such remedy, as an alternative to damages; B. Commence an action at law for monetary damages or seek other equitable relief; or C. In the case of a substantial default of a material provision of the Franchise, declare the Franchise Agreement to be revoked in accordance with the following: The Franchising Authority shall give written notice to the Grantee of its intent to revoke the Franchise on the basis of a pattern of noncompliance by the Grantee, including one or more instances of substantial noncompliance with a material provision of the Franchise. The notice shall set forth the exact nature of the noncompliance. The Grantee shall have 90 days from such notice to object in writing and to state its reasons for such objection. In the event the Franchising Authority has not received a response satisfactory from the Grantee, it may then seek termination of the Franchise at a public meeting. The Franchising Authority shall cause to be served upon the Grantee, at least 10 days prior to such public meeting, a written notice specifying the time and place of such meeting and stating its intent to request such termination. -13- • At the designated meeting, the Franchising Authority shall give the Grantee an opportunity to state its position on the matter, after which it shall determine whether or not the Franchise shall be revoked. The Grantee may appeal such determination to an appropriate court, which shall have the power to review the decision of the Franchising Authority "de novo" and to modify or reverse such decision as justice may require. Such appeal to the appropriate court must be taken within 60 days of the issuance of the determination of the Franchising Authority. The Franchising Authority may, at its sole discretion, take any lawful action which it deems appropriate to enforce the Franchising Authority's rights under the Franchise in lieu of revocation of the Franchise. 7S Impossibility of Performance. The Grantee shall not be held in default or noncompliance with the provisions of the Franchise, nor suffer any enforcement or penalty relating thereto, where such noncompliance or alleged defaults are caused by strikes, acts of God, power outages, or other events reasonably beyond its ability to control. SECITON 8 Miscellaneous Provisions 8.1 Actions of Parties. In any action by the Franchising Authority or the Grantee t:~at is mandated or permitted under the terms hereof, such party shall act in a reasonable, expeditious, and timely manner. Furthermore, in any instance where approval or consent is required under the terms hereof, such approval or consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. 82 Equal Protection. In the event the Franchising authority enters into a franchise, permit, license, authorization, or other agreement of any kind with any other person or entity other than the Grantee to enter into the Franchising Authority's streets and public ways for the purpose of constructing or operating a cable system or providing cable service to any part of the Service Area, the material provisions thereof shall be comparable to those contained herein, in order that one operator not be granted an unfair competitive advantage over another, and to provide all parties equal protection under the law. The Franchising Authority shall not authorize or permit a System to operate within the Franchise area on terms or conditions more favorable or less burdensome to such operator than those applied to the Grantee pursuant to this Franchise. If the Franchising Authority authorizes or permits another System to operate within the Franchise area, it shall do so on condition that such System indemnify and hold harmless the Grantee for and against all costs and expenses incurred in strengthening poles, replacing poles, rearranging attachments, placing underground facilities, and all other costs including those of the Grantee, the Franchising Authority, and utilities, incident to inspections, make ready, and construction of an ___ ~ -14- i • additional System in the Franchise area; and the Grantee shall be designated a third parry beneficiary of such conditions as are incorporated into the authorization(s) granted to another System. 83 Theft of Service. In addition to those criminal and civil remedies provided by state and federal law, it shall be a misdemeanor for any person, firm, or corporation to create or make use of any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, with any part of the System without the express consent of the Grantee. Further, without the express consent of the Grantee, it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to tamper with, remove, or injure any property, equipment, or part of the System or any means of receiving services provided thereto. Subject to applicable federal and state law, the Franchising Authority shall incorporate into its criminal code, if not presently a part thereof, criminal misdemeanor law which will enforce the intent of this Section 8.4 Notice. Unless expressly otherwise agreed between the parties, every notice or response required by this Franchise to be served upon the Franchising Authority or the Grantee shat' be in writing, and shall be deemed to have been duly given to the required party five business days after having been posted in a properly sealed and correctly addressed envelope when hand delivered or sent by certified or registered mail, postage prepaid. The notices or responses to the Franchising Authority shall be addressed as follows: ranc~sfii~ ,~uthon' Address The notices or responses to the Grantee shall be addressed as follows: Grantee Name Adcre~s w nth a copy to: .. :. ,, grantee ^~me Attention: Qal De artment 1,~vis~oi C?ffi~e' Addzicss __ -15- ~ ~ The Franchising Authority and the Grantee may designate such other address or addresses from time to time by giving notice to the other. 8S Descn~tive Headings. The captions to Sections contained herein are intended solely to facilitate the reading thereof. Such captions shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of the text herein. 8.6 Severability. If any Section, sentence, paragraph, term, or provision hereof is determined to be illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, by any court of competent jurisdiction or by any state or federal regulatory authority having jurisdiction thereof, such determination shall have no effect on the validity of any other Section, sentence, paragraph, terr:l or provision hereof, all of which will remain in full force and effect for the term of the Franchise; or any renewal or renewals thereof. 8.7 Effective Date. The effective date of this Franchise is ,pursuant to the provisions of applicable .law. This franchise shall expire on ,unless extended by the mutual agreement of the parties. Passed, adopted and effective this day of , 19 ,subject to applicable federal, state and local law. - .__ -16- IN V~J][7:T1FSS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have entered into this Franchise Agreement on , 19 By: Title: Clerk Accepted this day of , 19 ,subject to applicable federal, state and local law. By: Title: -17- ORDINANCE ~ 180 ~~~ ,, , BY THE COUNCIL: SKIVER, BODINE, ELLIS AND ~AVARRO ~ ~" AN ORDINANCE GRANTING TO THE LIVINGSTON OIL COMPANY, THROUGH ITS GENERAL COMMUNI- C9TIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT DOMF'A1V~ DIVISION, TULSA, OKLAHOMA, A FRAN(iHI3E TO OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A COMMUNITY ANTENNA TELEVISION SYSTEM IN THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTERCEPTION, SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF TELEVISION AND RADIO SIGNALS TO THE INHABITANTS OF SAID CITY: IMPOSING COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS AND ORDINANCES; AUTHORIZING A GRANT OF AUTHORITY; PROVIDING THAT SAID FRANCHISE SHALL BE ANON-EXCLUSIVE GRANT; CREATING THE TREASURE VALLEY CATV COMMITTEE; SPECIFY- ING GRANTEE RULES AND SERVICE STANDARDS; PROVIDING FOR CITY RIGHTS IN SAID FRANCHISE; SPECIFYING CONDITIONS ON STREET OCCUPANCY AND USE; PROVIDING FOR THE ERECTION, REMOVAL AND COMMON USER OF POLES; SPECIFYING PAYMENTS TO SAID CITY; PROVIDING FOR RATES AND FEES OF SUBSCRIBERS; SPECIFYING ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT AND RATE REVIEW; PRESCRIBING THAT PREFERENTIAL OR DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES BE PROHIBITID; REaUIRING COMPANY LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION; RE~iUIRING THAT A FAITHFUL PERFORMANCE BOND BE GIVEN; SETTING FORTH OPERATIONAL STANDE~RDS. SPECIFYING CONSTRUCTION COMPLETION AND PENALTY THEREFORE: SETTING FORTH AN EXTENSION POLICY; REQUIRING SERVICE TO SCHOOLS; SPECIFYING THE DURATION AND CONDITIONS FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF FRANCHISE; PROVIDING FOR LIMITATIONS OF SAID FRANCHISE; PROVIDING FOR SEPARABILITY; SETTING FORTH MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS; AND THE REt~UIREMENT FOR PAYMENT OF PUBLICATION COSTS. Section 1. Definitions: For the purposes of this Ordinance, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural include the singular and words in the singular include the plural. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not directory. (1) "City": The City above named, a municipal corporation of the State of Idaho, in its present incorporated form or in any other reorganized, consolidated changed form. (2) "Council": The present governing body of the City or any future body constituting the legislative body of the City. (3) "Grantee": The person, firm or corporation to whom or to which a fran- chise under this ordinance is granted by the Council, and the lawful successor or assignee of said person, firm or corporation. (4) "Street": The surface of, and the space above and below, any public street, road, highway, freeway, lane, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway drive or other public property, hereafter existing as such within the City. (5) !'Community Antenna Television System": Hereinafter referred to as "CATV System" or "System" shall mein a system of antennae, coaxial cables, wave guides or other conductors, equipment of facilities designed, constructed or used for the purpose of providing television, F.M. radio, or other services by cable through its facilities as herein contemplated. CATV shall not mean or include the trans- mission of any special program or event for which a separate and distinct charge is made to the subscriber in the manner commonly known and referred to as "pay television." (6) "Subscriber": Any person or entity receiving for any prrpose the CATV service of the Grantee herein. (7) "Committee": The Treasure Valley CATV Committee as provided herein by Section 4. Section 2. Grant of Authority: There is hereby granted by the City of Meridian, State of Idaho, to the Livingston Oil Company, through its General Communications and Entertainment Co~pany Division, whose principal place of business is Tulsa, Oklahoma, its successors and ass-~gns hereinafter referred to as Grantee, the right and privilege to construct, oper~:~.te and maintain a community antenna television system within the City for the distribution of television signals, F.M. Radio, or other services by cable approved for recommendation by the Comr,~ittee, subject to the terms, conditions and provisions contained herein. Section 5. grantee Rul • such rules, regulations t es: The Grantee shall have the authority to promulgate j~ as shall be reasonably necessaryntocenableosaidoGra~ng the conduct of its business perform its obligations under this franchise and tonassure exercise its rights and each and all of its custo~ers. Ps'ovid~d however, that such rulesrrupted service to terms and conditions shall not be in conflict with the provisions hereo of the Federal Communications C~~ ~ regulations, mmission or the laws of the State of Idaho~he rules Section 6. Service Standards: The Grantee shall maintain and operate ' system and render efficient service.in accordance with such ru its as are, or may be hereinafter promul ated b les and regulations cations Commission. Whenever it is necessarytto interru trser the Federal Co~~,_ of making repairs, adjustments or installations, the Grantee vice for the time as will cause the least amount of inconvenience to its customers so atpsucphose `~ such interruption is unforeseen and immediately necessar notice thereof to its customers. ' and unless y, it shall give reasonable Section 7. City Rights in Franchise (1) City Rules. The Grantee shall at all times during the life of t franchise, be su-- b~~ to lawful exercise of the olice such reasonable his protection as the Cit ma p Power of the City and to provide. y y hereafter b y resolution or ordinance (2) Use of System by Citv. T make attachments to he City shall have the right without cost, to or police signal systemssorwothernc tSeusey the Grantee in connection with its fire maintained in accordance with the requlrementscofathecNationaloEleCinstalled and Code and only after written notice to the Grantee• shall assume no liability or expense in connection therewith trical Safety provided however, that the Grantee that the City~s use thereof shall be in such a manner as not~tonint rfered further, the community antenna television operations of the Grantee. I or disaster, the Grantee shall, upon request of the City Council with its facilities to the City for emergency use. n case of any emergency , make available (a) Compliance with Grantee Rules. such wires and fixtures, shall at all timeshcomply withtthe rules andnrenulatiof of the Grantee in order that there be a the wires and fixtures of the Grantee and theuwires andofixturestusedcbnflict between (b) Liability y y the City. The Cit shall be solely responsible and save the Grantee harmless for all claims and demands for damages to persons or propert ari of the construction, maintenance, rearrangement or removal of poles, wires f or other facilities authorized b y sin6 out y this section. , fixtures, (c) Inspection of Property and Records. At all times during construction and at all reasonable times thereafter, the Grantee shall permit any del author representative of the Committee and/or the City to examine all property of the Grantee situated within or without the Cit y ized all maps and other records ke t and y and to examine and transcribe an P maintained by the Grantee. Y and Section 8. Conditions on Street Occu anc -Use: (1) Use. All transmission and distribution structures, lines and a ui me erected by the Grantee within the City shall be so located as to cause minimumnt interference with the proper use of streets, alleys and other public wa s and places, and to cause minimum interference with the rights or reasonableyconveni of property owners who adjoin any of the said streets, alleys or other ublic and places, and not to interfere with existin ence g public utility installations. In all areas of the City where the cables, wires or other like facilities of ways utilities are placed underground, the Grantee shall place its cables, wires other like facilities under Public reasonably permits. The Granteedshallhfuraishutoeandnfile1withgthecCnology~ or plats and permanent records of the locatiors and chraracter of all facilities con- structed, including underground facilities. ity' maps, (2) Restoration. in case of any disturbance of pavement. R;.~o,s „_ ~_s or other sur'facin~, thA ~„~„+,... _L _ , , (4) Placement of Fixtures. The Grantee shall not place poles, conduits, or other fixtures above or below ground where the same will interfere with any gas, electric, telephone fixture, water hydrant or other utility, and all such poles, conduits or other fixtures placed in any street shall be so placed as to comply with all requirements of the City. (5) Temporary Removal of Wire and/or Fixtures for Building Moving. The Grantee shall, on request of any person holding a moving permit issued by the City, temporarily move its wires or fixtures to permit the moving of buildings, the expense of such .temporary removal, to be paid by the person requesting the same, and the Grantee shall be given not less than forty-eight (48) hours advance notice to arrange for such temporary changes. (6) Tree Trimming. The Grantee shall have authority to trim any trees upon and overhanging the streets, alleys, sidewalks, public places of the City so as to prevent the branches of such trees from coming in contact with the wires and cables of the Grante®, except that at the option of the City, such trimming may be done by it, or under its supervision and direction, at the expense and liability of the Grantee. Section 9. Erection, Removal and Common User of Poles: (1) No poles or other wire-holding structures shall be erected by the Grantee without prior approval of the City with regard to location, height, type and other pertinent aspects. However, location of any pole or wire-holding structure of the Grantee shall not be a vested interest and such poles or structures shall be removed or modified by the Grantee at its own expense whenever the City determines that public onnvenience would be enhanced thereby. (2) Where poles of other wire-holding structures of any public utility company are available for use by the Grantee, the City may require the Grantee to use such poles and structures if the permission and consent of such public utility company may be obtained by the Grantee and if the terms of the use available to the Grantee are just and reasonable, all to be done in conformance with the rules, regulations and requirements of the Public Utility Commisbion of the State of Idaho and the City. (3) Where a public utility serving the City desires to make use of the poles or other wire-holding structures of the Grantee, but agreement therefor with the Grantee cannot be reached, the City may require the Grantee to permit such use for such consideration and upon such terms as the Council shall determine to be just and reasonable, if the use will enhance the public convenience and if it would not unduly interfere with the Grantee's operation. (4) Where City owned utility poles are available for use of the Grantee, the Grantee shall pay the City the samepole rental per annum as paid by the Grantee for the use of poles owned by other public utilities. Section 10. Payments to the City: The Grantee shall pay to the City annually and within sixty (60) days after the end of each period for which this franchise is granted, an amount equal to a percentage of gross income from subscribers residing in the City as follows: 4% for the first two years of operation; 3~ for the next three years of operation. The franchise rate is to be renegotiated by the Committee at the expiration of each five (5) year period during the effective term of this franchise or any extension thereof. Section 11. Rates and Fees of Subscribers: Grantee shall be permitted to charge the following rates and fees for its services: Residential 1st Outlet-installation charge Cj X9.95 Monthly Service charge 1, ~,~"~ 4.50 ** Each additional outlet-installation charge , ~ .~ '7.60 ._ Each additional set-month charge (apartments) X2.50 Each additional set-monthly charge (motels) .75 * Free installation and one month free service to be offered to customers who subscribe during the construction period. ** When necessary, $ .75 per month additional to be charged until the cost of the converter has been amortized. Converter then becomes the property of the subscriber. The above rate and fee schedule shall be maintained at the same rate and fee set forth herein until more than four (4) outside, independent signals are authorized by the Federal Communications Commission. When the Federal Communi- cations Commission authorizes other independent signals for transmission by Grantee,~in excess of four(4), Grantee has the option to increase its rate in the monthly service charge only in residential and commercial categories of 1.66 for each independent station authorized, up to a total maximum of six(6) new, independent stations. Section 12. Annual Financial Report and Rate Review: On or before April 15 of each calendar year during the term of this franchise the Grantee shall file with the City an audited financial statement of its operations during the preceeding year. Such statement shall be prepared in conformance with generally accepted accounting practices by a licensed certified public accountant of the State of Idaho, and shall be sufficient in detail to permit a determination by the committee that the rates and charges are fair and reasonable. The committee will recommend increases or reductions in the Grantee's rates and charges after examination of the first quintennial financial statement and annually thereafter. Section 13. Preferential or Discriminatory Practices~Prohibited: The Grantee shall not, as to rates, charges, service facilities, rules, regulations, or in any other respect, make or grant any preference or advantage to any person, nor subject any person to any prejudice or disadvantage, provided, that nothing in this franchise shall be deemed to prohibit the establishment of a graduated scale of charges and classified rate schedule to which any customer coming within such classification would be entitled. Section 14. Company Liability-Indemnification: It is expressly understood ana agreed by and between the Grantee and the City that the Grantee shall save the City harmless from all loss sustained by the City by reason of any suit, judgment, execution, claim, or demand resulting from the construction, operation or main- ten~.nce by the Grantee of its television system in the City. The Grantee shall, concurrently with the filing of an acceptance of award of the franchise granted under this ordinance, file with the City Clerk and at all times thereafter maintain in full force and effect for the term of such franchise or renewal thereof, at Grantee's sole expense, a general comprehensive liability insurance policy, in protection of the City, its officers, boards, commissions, agents, and employees, in a company authorized to do business in the State of Idaho, and in a form satisfactory to the City Attorney, protecting the City and all persons against liability for loss or damage for personal injury, death and property damage, occasioned by the operations of Grantee under such franchise in the minimum ~unount of: $250,000.00 for property damage of any one person. $500,000.00 for property damage in any one occurrence. $500,000.00 for personal injury to any one pez•son. $1,000,000.00 for personal injury in any one occurrence. Section 15. Faithful performance Bond: Upon the commencement of construction, the Grantee shall provide a construction performance bond that will faithfully guarantee the payment of all labor and material costs incurred by it or its subcontractors during construction of the system. The performance bond will be issued by a company licensed to do business in the State of Idaho and in a form approved by the City Attorney. In addition, the Grantee shall maintain through- out the term of this franchise, a corporate surety bond issued by a company i • Section 16. Operational Standards: The CATV System shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the highest and best standards of the industry to the end that subscribers shall receive the best service possible. In determines the satisfactory extent of such standards the following shall be considered. (a) The system, as installed, shall be capable of passing the entire VHF and FM spectrum, and it shall have the further capability of converting UHF for distri- bution to subscribers on the VHF band, and the capability of carrying all subchannels. (b) The system, as installed, shall be capable of passing standard color TV signals without the introduction of material degradation of color fidelity and intelligence. (c) The system shall provide a signal level of 2000 microvolts measured across 75 ohms at the input terminals of each TV receiver outlet. (d) The system signal-to-noise ratio shall not be less than 46 decibels. (e) Hum modulation of the picture signal shall be less than 396. (f) The system shall use components having a VSWR of 1.4 or less. COMMUNITY ANTENNA TELEVISION SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS I. GENERAL The specifications as defined herein shall cover the electronic equipment, power supplies, controls, fittings, splitters and directional couplers r~s may be required to complete the system with respect to the electronix and passive devises required. All Electronic equipment and passive devices utilized in the system shall be supplied with complete operating instructions and circuit diagrams. The transmission and distribution system is to be so engineered as to provide for the distribution of all television signals on very high frequency on channels 2 through 13 and also has the ability to distribute FM radio signals in the frequency range of 88 to 108 megacycles. II. SYSTEM CAPABILITIES The system shall be capable of delivering all NTSC color and monochrome signals to standard EIA television receivers both monochrome and color and FM receivers without modifications or other attachments. The system shall be designed and rated for continuous 24-hour daily operation under temperature ranges encountered in the area. All components shall have an impedance of 75 ohms and this shall include all coaxial cable connectors. The electronic equipment in the trunk line shall utilize thermatic equalizers in conjunction with this equipment. Such equalizers are to provide compensation for the effects of temperature variation of the coaxial cables. The recommended specification for the distance of thermatic equalizers dhall be approximately every 54 db of trunk line system. Automatic level control circuitry shall be provided in the trunk line electronic system. (AGC locations approximately every third amplifier location.) All coaxial cable connectors shall be of the solderless type with a nominal impedance of 75 ohms. All connectors to be used with aluminum sheathed cables shall be designed to prevent corrosion caused by mating of dissimilar aretals. All 110 VAC power locations shall be protected by lightning protectors which are self-healing and circuit breakers for protection of the equipment from damage due to overload. Each 110 VAC power location shall be equipped with a suitable RF power line filter. Fusing of the equipment shall not be dependent on fuses of a given type having other than average characteristics for the type. Fuses shall be easily replaceable and shall be mounted in a convenient location to insure a minimum service requirement. III. WEATHER ENC.~OSURES A11 Electronic equipment shall be protected against the weather by a weather- proof housing suitable for messenger or crossarm mounting. The echo or ghost content in the received picture over the transportation system shall be no more annoying than a single well displaced video echo 30 db down. The echo response of the feeder lines shall be 20 db minimum without any taps on the line. The peak-to-valley response of any individual trunk line amplifier shall not be more than plus or minus 1/4 lb. per unit. This specification applies across any 6 me segment of the TV band. The frequency response of the overall trunk line shall not vary more than plus or minor 1.5 db in any 6 megacycle segment of the TV channels 2 to 6 and 7 to 13. A minimum level of 25 dbj shall be maintained at the end of all feeder lines. This level is to be computed using an attenuation factor of 1.6 db per 100' of cable at channel 13 with ambient temperature of 70 degrees F. This decibel level shall be measured without any taps on the line. 0 dbj is equal to 1,000 microvolts. The automatic gain control circuitry shall be capable of holding the output level of an amplifier within 1 db with a 5 db change on the input. V. COAXIAL CABLE All coaxial cables used in the system shall have a nominal characteristic impedance of 75 ohms over the entire frequency range to be utilized in the system. The impedance shall not very more than plus or minuF 5~ fr.om 75 ohms. Th® attenuation/frsquency characterie~tic shall be such that the attenuation shall not vary more than plus or minus 1 db in 35 db (measured at 216 mcs.) from the design frequency response characteristics of the cable. Trunk and feeder cables shall have solid copper center conductors. All trunk and feed cables shall be of the seamless aluminum sheath type. Dielectric materials shall be of a cellular or foamed polyethylene material. All materials used in the manufacture of the coaxial cable shall be of a virgin nature and no reprocessed or reclaimed materials shall be used. VI. INSTALLATION AND CONSTRUCTION Pole line construction shall be in accordance with the standard utilities practices and the National Electrical Safety Code. For pole spans up to 150 feet the minimum breaking strength shall be 4,750 pounds. Use 1/4" High Strength grade, seven (7) wire with galvanized zinc coating A. Lashing wire shall be .045 inch diameter, stainless steel. The rate of spiral shall average 1,200 feet of wire to 1,000 feet of messenger. All strand shall be installed on the field site of the pole; except when the telephone facilities are already installed on the street side of the pole, the television attachment shall also be on the street side. The television strand shall always be attached on the side of the pole to which the telephone strand has been attached, be it field or street side. VII. HARDWARE 5/8" machine bolts (for suspension clamp attachments). 5/8" machine bolts (for equipment location attachments). 5/8" thimbleye bolts (for dead ends and guys). Three (3) bolt-t-oe suspension clams (Hubbard No. 8903) or equal. Thimbleye guy bond clamp (Hubbard 9060 series or equal). Strand ground clamp (Hubbard 8956 or equal). 5/8" by 6' copper-clad steel or copper ground rods. 1/4" performed dead end (1/4 GFB or equal). 1/4" automatic (Reliable SR-5100 or equal). No. 6 solid, soft-drawn copper wire, (bonding and grounding). 3-1/2" x 4-1/2" x 5'7" wooden crossarms (for mounting and supporting equipment cabinets). No. 12 two (2) wire service entrance weatherproof cable (from service head to fused cutout cabinet). Straps and-spacers. Lashing wire clamps. Guard arms, 3" x 4" x 40 ". Guard arm braces, flat 22". Pole gains • • construction and prior to final grant of authority from the Federal Communications Commission to establish at least the minimum program requirements set forth above, Grantee shall conduct the necessary engineering studies so that construction can commence promptly upon final approval of the Federal Communications Commission. In the event that the Grantee does not perform according to the provisions of this ordinance, the City shall give written notice of the particular items wherein the Grantee has failed to perform and Grantee is hereby given a period of sixty (60) days to correct the defaults of which the notice complains. If no correction is made during said period the Council may, at its discretion, assess a penalty of $25.00 per day until such default is corrected, or may repeal this ordinance. Provided however, 'hat the Grantee may petition the Council for an extension of time to comply for good cause shown. The determination of what constitutes good cause shall be first determined by the Committees recommended to the interested City Councils, and the decision of said councils shall be accepted as final. Section 1$. Extension Policy: The council shall grant reasonable extensions referred to in Section 17 in the event of strikes, floods, fire, acts of God, force majeure, labor disputes, unavailability of building materials beyond the control of the Grantee or any other cause beyond the control of the Grantee. Section 19. Service to Schools: The Grantee shall provide service to state accredited public and parochial schools within the City for educational purposes upon request by the City at no cost to it or the school. The Grantee may, at its option, provide similar services without cost to other private, parochial, and religious schools. Section 20. Duration and Conditions for Acceptance of Franchise: The Franchise and all rights and privileges and authority hereby granted shall take effect and be in force from and after final passage hereof, as provided by law, and shall continue in force and effect for a term of 20 years, PROVIDID that, within 30 days after the date of passage of this ordinance the Grantee shall file with the City Clerk, in writing, duly executed by the proper officials; the following documents: 1. It's unconditional acceptance of this franchise; and 2. It's Performance Bond as provided in Section 15; and 3. It's indemnification bond as provided in Section 14. Section 21. Limitations of Franchise: This franchise 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, merger, consolidation or otherwise, without Consent of the Council expressed by resolution, which resolution shall be predicated upon the recommendation of the Committee. Section 22. Separability: If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance or any part thereof is for any reason found to be unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance or any part thereof. Section 23. Miscellaneous Provisions: (1) Time is the essence of this franchise. The Grantee shall not be relieved of its obligations to comply promptly with any of the provisions of this ordinance or by any failure of the City to enforce prompt compliance. (2) The Grantee shall have no recourse against the City for any loss, cost, expenses or damage arising out of any provisions or requirements of this ordinance or its enforcement. (3) The Grantee shall maintain a toll free telephone listing in each City in order that CATY maintenance service shall be promptly available to all subscribers. (4) The Grantee shall not repair, maintain, sell or recommend any television or radio equipment or recommend radio and television repairmen. Any repair work done to subscriber sets shall be performed k:~y repairmen other than employees, directly or indirectly, employed by the Grantee. The Grantee ~s prohibited from inducing subscribers to remove their presently installed television antennas. Section 24. Proof-of-Performance: Upon completion of installation of the ~. • j shall be inserted when the System is set up for normal operating conditions, and there is a normal video and audio signal on all other channels. ~~!~ There will also be inserted in each amplifier in cascade a 3 db attenuator. This attenuator, for test purposes only, may be removed after proof-of-performance. No significant level changes should be apparent after removal of test attenuators. A test set shall be connected at the extremity of any trunk line and the frequency response, as seen on an oscilloscope, shall not vary more than plus or minus 1.5 db over the entire channel width. B. System Signal-to-Noise Ratio -- In order to provide television si nals having the hi hest order of g maintain a signal-to-noise ratiodinsexcessiof~44tdb8 nThesSignalhto-noise ratio can be measured by proceeding as follows: ,-', (1) Insert a CW test signal at the input to the distribution system, and ad3ust the signal to normal system input level on each video and audio carrier of each channel to be used on the system. During this test normal video and audio signals should be on all other channels. i (2) At the extremities of any trunk in the System, feed the test signal into a field strength meter tuned to the video and audio carriers of the channels under test. Note the reading obtained on the meter. (3) Now tune the field strength meter to mid-channel of each video and audio channel under test. In the absence of signal, note the readin obtained A hi hl selecti g • g y ve field strength meter is necessary to areasure a signal-to-noise ratio ' of 44 db and for the proper separation of carriers. (4) The difference between the two readin s will noise ratio. This difference should be not less than 44vdebtheTheseemeasurements shall be repeated on video channels 2 through 13. C. System Hum Modulation: (1) Insert into the Transmission System a CW signal for the picture carrier of any channel to be used on the System -- the level of the signal inserted should be approximately equal to the mean value of the signals which will be received from the System feed point. At the extremities of the trunk line of the System, insert a detector and examine the resultant signal on an oscilloscope. (2) Measure the average level of the do signal. (3) Measure the peak-to-peak ac hum variation. (4) The ratio in percent of the peak-to-peak ac variation to the average do is the percent system hum modulation and should be not more than 396. D. System Intermodulation: (1) Calibrate the following test setup: signal generator with provision for controlled modulation; field strength meter with built-in detector; oscilloscope, to read .5% modulation of an rf-carrier for a selected deflection. (2)~Insert an unmodulated CW signal, utilizing above signal generator on one channel and insert a normal TV signal input on each of the other channels to be used in the System. All signals in the System should be set at normal operating levels. (3) Connect the field strength meter to the extremity of the trunkline of the System and tune to the unmodultated CW carrier. (4) Connect oscilloscope to the detector of the field strength meter and read modulation. Modulation should not exceed deflection as set under D-1. Repeat this test on each video channel 2 through 13. (5) The blank screen test may be substituted for the above test procedure upon approval of the customer. The eye should detect no visible intermodulation ; effects. E. Voltage Regulation: (1) Via means of an autotransformer, or similar device, vary the ac input of several am plifiers simultane ously, first down to 105 volts and then up to 125 volts. ~ The System should continue to meet all previous performance tests under both of these sets of line voltage conditions. (2) While varying the ac input voltage between 100 and 130 volts at several ~- amplifiers measure the B plus, B minus and filament voltage. The variation in voltage should not exceed 2~. ~1 ti A • strength meter shall be connected across various Subscriber 300 ohm outlets near the extremities of the system. The rf signal generator frequency shall be varied from 88 to 108 megacycles, while carrier voltage is measured at the subscribed outlets. The minimum measured carrier should read at least 0.125 millivolts from 88 to 108 megacycles. H. Modulated FM station signals fed into the System at normal input level shall not cause noticeable interactions on any TV channel. Section 25. Publication Costs: 2'hfs Grantee shall assume and pay all publi- cation costs in connection with the adoption of a CATV ordinance and the granting of a franchise as required by Idaho Code, Section 50-329. A statement for all such costs shall be prepared by the City Treasurer and presented to the Grantee upon filing its acceptance with the City Clerk. Section 26. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect on the lst day after its passage, approval and publication. PASSED by the Council of Meridian , Idaho , this th day of April , 1969. APPROVID by the Mayor of Meridian , Idaho ,this 7th day of April , 1969 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The parties hereto, have, on the day and year first above written, caused these presents to be signed by their duly authorized officials, and have caused their respective seals to be hereto affixed. ~ c ,~-~ Mayor, City of Meridian, daho Grantee Name and Official Title SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this _ day of 1969• Notary Public for: Residing at: Comm. Exp.: i( n ~ v" ~~~ ~„l~J`y 'C ~l~ 1F' ~~ ~~~ ORDINANCE NO. 214 AN ORDINANCE GRANTING TO IDAHO POWER COMPANY, ITS SUCCESSC ELECTRIC LIGHT, HEAT AND POWER FRANCHISE. BE IT ORDAINID BY THE i~[AYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TDAHO:- Section 1. There is hereby granted to Idaho Power Comf assigns (herein called the Grantee) the rights privilege or December 31, 2021, to construct, maintain and operate in the streets, alleys and public places in the City of Meridian, A its successors, electric light and power lines, together wit or desirable appurtenances (including underground conduits, transmission lines and telegraph and telephone lines for its purpose of supplying electricity to said City, the inhabitan and corporations beyond the limits thereof, for light, heat, purposes. Section 2. Poles and towers shall be constructed in a manner, and will be so erected as not to interfere with trav of streets and alleys. The location of poles, towers and co under the supervision of the City Council of the City, but n unreasonably with the proper operation of the Grantee's line AND ASSIGNS, AN IDIAN, ADA COUNTY, ny, its successors and ranchise until present and future a County, Tdaho, and all the necessary poles, towers, wires, own use), for the s thereof and persons power and other ood and substantial 1 or ordinary use duits shall be fixed t so as to interfere Section 3. The Grantee shall indemnify and save the Ci y harmless from any and all expense or liability which may accrue to it by reaso of the negligence or misconduct of the Grantee in the construction, operation or aintenance of its system hereunder. Section 4. The Grantee shall file with the City Clerk acceptance in writing of this franchise, on or before thirty days after the final ssage hereof. Section 5. This Ordinance shall take effect upon its ssage, approval by the Mayor, acceptance as required herein, and publication within one month after its passage. Passed by the City Council and approved by the Mayor of Ada County, Idaho, this 4th day of November, 1971. APPR c r ~~~ ~~ Mayor ATTFS T ~~ Cites Clerk o ~q5~ 1 ~- b~y the City of Meridian, ~. ,~l 1 .,, ~ _ Meridian, Ada County, Idaho. Section 1. That the aforementioned real property which is described as follows: The North 8 feet of the East 170 feet of Block~2 and the South 75 feet of the East 170 feet of Block 3 of the amended Plat of F.A. -Nourse's Third Addition to Meridian, according to the Plat thereof, filed in Book 7 of Plats at page 299, records of Ada County, Idaho. Be and the Same hereby is rezoned from "R-15" Residential to "L-O" Limited Office and Section 11-2-425, Official Zoning Maps is hereby amended to reflect the same. Section 2_ This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval as required by law. n C- HJ Passed by the City Council and approved by the Mayor of the City of Meridian, Ada County, Idaho, this 20TH day of January, 1986. APPROVED: MAYOR - GRANT P. IN SF ATTEST: ORDINANCE N0. 462 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, IDAHO, GRANTING TO INTERMOUNTAIN GAS COMPANY A FORTY (40) YEAR EXTENSION TO ITS FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE A GAS TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM; PROVIDING FOR THE USE OF STREETS AND ALLEYS, AND RULES GOVERNING THE SAME; SUBJECTING THE GRAPJTEE TO ALL POWERS OF THE CITY; SETTING FORTH THE RULES GOVERNING REPAIRS AND RECONSTRUCTION OF THE STREETS; PROVIDING FOR THE TERM OF THE FRANCHISE AND GRANTa PROVIDING FOR THE RIGHT OF INSPECTION BY THE CITY OF GRANTEE'S PLANS; ACCOUNTS, AND BOOKS; it"t"I~UIRiiJG GRANTEE TO -UR~!ISH CERTAI MAPS; SETTING FORTH THE ANNUAL PAYMENT OF THE CITY, AND THE FILING OF ANN~AL REPORTS WITH THE CITY; REQUIRING GRANTEE TO INDEMNIFY CITY, AND FILE EVIDENCE OF IPJSURANCE COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY REGULATIONS; SETTING FORTH AN AGREEMENT Lrib . r t into the following franchise agreement with Intermountain Gas Company; NOW, THEREFORE, the following Ordinance is hereby adopted: SECTION 1. GRANT OF AUTHORITY There is hereby granted to Intermountain Gas Company, a corporation, its successors and assigns (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Grantee") a forty (40) year extension to the right and authority to construct, install, maintain and operate a gas transmission and distribution system, including mains, pipes, conduits, services and other necessary structures and appliances appertaining in ~nder,upon~ovejacross and along the streets, alleys, bridges and public places within the present and future corporate limits of the City of Meridian, Idaho (hereinafter referred to as "City") 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 City. SECTION 2. USE OF STREETS AND RULES GOVERNING SAME Grantee shall secure a permit from the City or the Ada County Highway District (hereinafter referred to as "ACRD"), whichever is applicable, for any opening it shall make in the streets, alleys and public places in the City and shall be subject to all applicable ordinances, but no fee shall be required of Grantee for anysuch permit. The ACRD presently maintains the streets of the City. The location or relocation of all facilities shall be made under the supervision and with the approval of such representatives as the governing body of the City or ACRD, whichever is applicable, may designate for such purpose, but not so as unreasonably to interfere with the proper operation of Grantee's facilities and service. Whenever the City or ACRD, whichever, is applicable, shall pave or repave any street 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 city public works or city utility, it shall be the duty of the Grantee when so ordered by the City or ACRD, whichever is applicable, to change its main, 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 with the conduits, sewers and other mains of the City as constructed or reconstructed; however, the Grantee shall not be required to relocate pipes, mains and appurtances when the street, alley or public ground in which they are located is vacated for the convenience of abutting property owners and not as an incident to the public improvement, unless the reasonable cost of such relocation and the loss and expenses resulting therefrom is first paid to Grantee. Whenever the City or ACRD, whichever is applicable, grants a permit for an excavation in a street, alley or other public ground and the work contemplated by the permit may expose gas pipes, mains and appurtenances of the Grantee, The City or ACHD, whichever is applicable, shall promptly furnish a copy of the permit to Grantee. SECTION 3. GRANTEE SUBJECT TO ALL POWERS OF THE CITY RULES GOVERNING REPAIR AND RECONSTRUCTION OF STREETS The exercise of privileges herein granted shall be subject at all times to all of the powers of the City and all regulatory ordinances adopted pursuant thereto.. The .Grantee shall not unnecessarily or unreasonably obstruct the use of or damage any street or alley, and shall within a reasonable time and as early as practicable upon completion of any construction or repair work, restore all city streets and alleys to the same order and condition as they were before the excavation was made insofar as reasonably possible. The Grantee (~ V 1 • its successor and assigns, is granted for, and limited in time to, a period of forty (40) years from January 8, 1987, through and including January 8, 2027. SECTION 5. CITY RIGHT TO INSPECTION OF GRANTEE'S PLANS, ACCOUNTS AND BOOKS - GRANTEE TO FURNISH CERTAIN MAPS The City shall have access at all resonable hours to all of the Grantee's plans, contracts and engineering, accounting, finance, statistical, customer and service records relating to the property and operations of Grantee within the City. The Grantee shall, upon request, furnish the City with a com- plete set of maps, including plans and profile of the distribution system of the Grantee and any future extensions. SECTION 6. PAYMENT TO CITY AND FILING OF ANNUAL WRITTEN REPORT WITH THE CITY As consideration for this franchise and grant said Grantee, its successors and assigns, during the franchise period, shall pay to the City three percent (3~) of the gross annual receipts received from all sales of gas within the corporate limits of the City through use, operation or possession of this franchise and grant. Such annual payments shall be in lieu of any and all other fees, charges, licenses or taxes (other than ad valorem taxes) which the City may impose for the rights and privileges herein granted or for the privilege of doing business within the City. The Grantee shall file by March 31 of each year with the City a report for the preceding calendar year, verified by the affidavit of the general manager, auditor, treasurer, or assistant treasurer of said Grantee, which report shall contain a statement in such form and detail as shall from time to time be prescribed by the City, of all the gross receipts arising from all sales of gas by said Grantee within the City for the calendar year preceding such report, and at the same time the Grantee shall pay to the City the stipulated percentage of the gross annual receipts due for the year for which said report is made and filed. SECTION 7. GRANTEE LIABILITY - INDEMNIFICATION It is expressly understood and agreed by and between the Grantee and the City that the Grantee shall save the City harmless from all loss sustained by the City on account of any suit, judgement, execution, claim or demand whatsoever, resulting from negligence on the part of the Grantee in the construction, operation or maintenance of its gas system in the City. The City shall notify the Grantee's representative in the City within ten (10) days after the presentation of any claim or demand, either by suit or otherwise, made against the City on account of any negligence as aforesaid on the part of the Grantee. SECTION 8. INSURANCE Upon acceptance of this franchise by Grantee and before Grantee shall have any rights hereunder, Grantee shall file with the City Clerk a certificate evidencing the insurance of the Grantee against property damage in an amount not less than $500,000.00 and bodily injury with limits of not less than $500,000.00 per pe~,.scn br.d $1.000,000.00 total for each occurrence. Provided, however, the minimum limits of insurance as set forth herein shall be auto- matically increased at any time the liability limits of the City~are increased pursuant to the Idaho Tort Claims Act (Idaho Code Section 6-901 et. seq.) or anv similar legislation. contained shall be construed or deemed to prevent the City from exercising at any time any power of eminent domain granted to it under the laws of the State of Idaho. SECTION 11. SURRENDER OF FRANCHISE In the event natural gas at any time shall cease to be available to Grantee for the distribution and sale hereunder, Grantee reserves the right to surrender this franchise and in the event of such surrender prior to any expiration or termination of this franchise, or in any of such events, Grantee reserves the right to salvage all of its plant, works and facilities, and will restore City's streets and alleys damaged by such salvage operation. SECTION 12. WRITTEN ACCEPTANCE The Grantee shall within thirty (30) days after the passage and publication of this ordinance file with the City Clerk its acceptance of this franchise in writing signed by its proper officers and attested by its corporate seal. SECTION 13. SALE, ASSIGNMENT OR LEASE OF FRANCHISE No sale, assisgnment or lease of this franchise shall be effective until it is approved by the City, provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as to require consent or to prevent the Grantee of this franchise and grant from including it in a mortgage or trust deed executed for this purpose of obtaining money for corporate objects. SECTION 14. RIGHT TO ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS TO CITY In the event the Grantee shall pay any other City any greater stipulated percentage than hereinbefore provided, then in such event, the City shall have the right of requiring Grantee to pay for the same period of time such higher percentage so paid to such other City. SECTION 15. PUBLICATION COSTS The Grantee shall assume the cost of publication of this franchise as such publication is required by law. SECTIOPJ 16. GAS STORAGE The Grantee shall not construct, erect or use any gas storage facili- ties in or within three (3) miles of the City without first obtaining the written consent of the City to the erection, construction and use of such gas storage facilities. SECTION 17. FORFEITURE Any violation by the Grantee, its vendee, lessee or successors of the provisions of this ordinance, franchise and .grant or any material portions thereof or the failure promptly to perform any of the provisions thereof shall be cause for the forfeiture of this franchise and grant and all rights hereunder by the City after sixty (60) days written notice to the Grantee and the continuance of such violation, failure or default; however, this provision shall not prevent the Grantee from submitting such question of forfeiture to proper court determination. SECTION 18. SEPARARTITTY • • WHEREAS, there is an emergency therefore, which emergency is hereby declared to exist, this Ordinance shall take effect and shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication, as required by law. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL April 7 1986 PASSED BY THE MAYOR April 7 1986 (SEAL) ATTEST: ORDINANCE N0. 463 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN AMENDING TITLE III OF THE REVISED AND COMPILED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN BY THE ADDITION THERETO OF PROVISIONS FOR REGULATING AND LICENSING PAWNBROKERS AND PROVIDING PROVISIONS FOR DEFINITIONS; APPLICATION; LICENSE REQUIRED, APPLICATION; AND PROCEDURE; LICENSE FEE; RECORDS, MONIRS AND INTOXICATED PERSONS; SALES; FORFEITURES; HOURS OF OPERATION; REPORTS TO CHIEF OF POLICE; NOTICE FROM POLICE DEPARTMENT; STOLEN PROPERTY; RETURN TO TRUE OWNER; APPEAL FROM DENIAL OF LICENSE; REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF LICENSE; VIOLATIONS; AND PENALTIES AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Council and the Mayor of the City of Meridian have concluded that it is in the best interest of the City of Meridian to amend Title III of the Revised and Compiled Ordinances of the City of Meridian; by the addition thereto of a Chapter relating to pawnbrokers; WHEREAS, under Idaho Code, 50-302, the City of Meridian has authority to make such ordinances, rules, regulations and resolutions as may be expedient to maintain the good government and welfare of the City and its trade, commerce and industry; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, ADA COUNTY, IDAHO: