[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Trainer 8-10-1978 by Ord. No. 471 (Ch. 13, Part 6, of the 1985 Code
of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Borough
of Trainer Community Television Company Franchise Ordinance."
For the purpose of this chapter, the terms set forth below are
defined as follows:
The Borough of Trainer.
The grantee of rights under this franchise.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Trainer.
The basic service charge for subscribers to the cable TV
service only, and does not include any charge for pay cable, installation
costs, repair costs, or other charges made by the company.
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, trust, estate or organization of any kind.
Any person or entity receiving for any purpose the CATV service
from a CATV system of the company herein.
The franchise granted herein shall be nonexclusive.
[1]
Editor's Note: Franchise agreements with specific companies
are on file in the Borough office.
A.
There is hereby granted by the Borough to the company the right and
privilege to construct, erect, operate and maintain in, upon, along,
across, above, over and under the streets, alleys, public ways, and
public places now laid out or dedicated, and all extensions thereof
and additions thereto in the Borough poles, wires, cables, underground
conduits, manholes and other television conductors and fixtures necessary
for the maintenance and operation in the Borough of a CATV system
for the reception and distribution of television and radio signals.
B.
The right to use and occupy said streets, alleys, public ways and
places for the purpose herein set forth shall not be exclusive, and
the Borough reserves the right to grant similar use of said streets,
alleys, public ways and places to any other person at any time during
the term of the franchise.
The company shall at all times during the initial and renewal
terms of this chapter comply with and adhere to all provisions of
this chapter and other ordinances of the Borough; laws of the United
States of America and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and rules
and regulations of all federal and state departments, bureaus, commissions
and boards of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, including rules and regulations of the Federal Communications
Commission and the Department of Labor and Industry of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
This franchise shall extend throughout the territorial limits
of the Borough either as presently constituted or as hereafter adjusted.
A.
The company shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the Borough
from and against any and all costs, expenses (including reasonable
counsel fees), liabilities, losses, damages, suits, actions, fines,
penalties, claims or demands of any kind asserted by or on behalf
of any person or governmental agency or authority arising out of or
in any way connected with, and the Borough shall not be liable to
the company on account of any of the following:
(1)
Any failure by the company to abide by, keep or perform any of the
terms, conditions or provisions of this franchise; or
(2)
Any failure by the company to comply with any statutes, ordinances,
regulations or orders of any governmental authority; or
(3)
Any bodily injury (including death) or property damage arising with
respect to this franchise; or
(4)
Any act or activity relating to the granting of this franchise to
the company or to the operations conducted thereunder.
B.
In connection with any suit or other proceeding in which the Borough
shall be made a part, involving this franchise or any act or activity
conducted thereunder or relating thereto and which may have any direct
effect upon the Borough, the company, upon the written request of
the Borough, shall come in and defend such suit on behalf of the Borough
and shall bear all of the costs and expenses relating thereto.
C.
The company shall maintain throughout the terms of this franchise general liability insurance insuring the Borough and the company with regard to all liabilities and contingencies mentioned in § 92-7A herein in the minimum amounts of:
D.
The company shall maintain, during the period of construction, a
performance bond in favor of the Borough, with a good and sufficient
surety approved by the Borough, in the sum of $25,000, conditioned
upon the company well and truly performing its several obligations
as set forth in this franchise, with regard to the construction phase
of this franchise. Said bond shall be to insure the faithful performance
of all undertakings of the company as represented in its application
for municipal consent incorporated herein.
E.
The insurance policy and bond obtained by the company in compliance
with this section must be approved by Council, which approval shall
not unreasonably be withheld, and such insurance policy and bond shall
be filed and maintained with Council during the term of this franchise.
F.
Neither the provisions of this section, nor any bond accepted by
the Borough pursuant thereto, shall be construed as excusing faithful
performance by the company or as otherwise limiting the liability
of the company under this franchise.
A.
The company shall render efficient service, make repairs promptly,
and interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time
reasonably possible. Such interruptions, insofar as possible, shall
be preceded by notice and shall, insofar as possible, occur during
periods of minimum use of the system.
B.
During the term of this franchise and any renewal thereof, the company
shall maintain a local business office or agent for the purpose of
receiving, investigating and resolving all complaints regarding the
quality of service, equipment malfunctions and similar matters. Such
local business office shall be open during normal business hours and
in no event less than between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday.
The company shall, upon request of the institution involved,
extend without charge one primary or standard line available at the
Borough Police Station, the existing operating fire stations, and
all approved licensed public and parochial schools in the Borough.
Such service shall be limited to a standard area installation of no
more than 125 feet of drop-type cable from the closest existing feeder
line. Said service shall only be required to be installed in an area
where a feeder line exists for the service of other customers and
will not be required in any area where a special feeder line is required
to be run. Such service shall consist of one television outlet within
the building or, in the case of a group of buildings, within the main
building of the group, providing service to one television receiver.
The installation of any additional outlets or other facilities shall
be paid for at the expense of the institution at the normal rates
set forth herein.
A.
In the use and occupation of the surfaces, subsurfaces, spaces above,
below and adjoining the streets, public ways, and places of the Borough,
the company's equipment and plant, and their construction, operation
and maintenance, shall be in accordance with the provision of the
following:
(1)
The National Electrical Code of the National Board of Fire Underwriters;
(2)
The Standards and Practices Code of the National Community Television
Association; and
(3)
Such applicable ordinances, codes, laws and regulations of the Borough
of Trainer, County of Delaware, State of Pennsylvania, and the United
States of America which are now in effect or hereafter enacted.
B.
Company's equipment and plant shall be kept and maintained in
a safe, suitable and substantial condition and in good order and repair
so as not to endanger the lives or interfere unreasonably with the
rights of persons, or to cause physical damage to property, or to
interfere with improvements the Borough may deem properly to make,
or to hinder or obstruct unnecessarily pedestrian or vehicular traffic
on streets, public ways and places.
C.
Where the Borough or a public utility serving the Borough desires
to make use of the poles or other wire-holding structures of the company
but agreement therefor with the company cannot be reached, the Council
may require the company to permit such use for such consideration
and upon such terms as the Council shall determine to be just and
reasonable if it is determined by the Council that the use would enhance
the public convenience and would not unduly interfere with the company's
operations.
D.
The company shall, upon not less than five working days' advance
notice, temporarily raise, lower or relocate its wires and cables
to permit the moving of buildings, and the expenses incurred by the
company in such raising, lowering or relocation shall be paid, in
advance, by the person or concern requesting the same.
E.
The company shall at its own cost and expense replace, restore or
repair any street, sidewalk, alley, public way, or paved area destroyed
or damaged by the company or its agents, employees or servants.
F.
If at any time during the term of this franchise the Borough shall
elect to alter or change the grade of any street, sidewalk, alley
or other public way, or when required by reason of traffic conditions,
public safety, street vibration, freeway and street construction,
installation of sewers, drains, water pipes, power lines, signal lines,
and tracks or any other type of structure or improvements when acting
in a governmental or proprietary capacity, the company upon reasonable
notice by the Borough shall remove, re-lay, relocate its poles, wires,
cables, underground conduits, manholes and other fixtures at its own
cost and expense.
G.
Company has the right, at its own cost and expense, to set its own
poles if necessary for the proper, efficient and economical establishment
of the cable TV system. The setting of said poles shall be with the
approval of the Borough Engineer.
It shall be the policy of the Borough liberally to amend this
franchise, upon application of the company, when necessary to enable
the company to take advantage of any developments in the field of
transmission of television and radio signals which will afford it
an opportunity more effectively, efficiently or economically to service
its customers; provided, however, that this section shall not be construed
to require the Borough to make any amendment or to prohibit it from
unilaterally changing its policy stated herein.
In the event that the use of any part or all of the CATV system
is discontinued for any reason for a continuous period of 12 months
or that the franchise shall have been terminated, cancelled or expired
for any reason, the company upon notice shall promptly remove from
the streets or public places all such property and poles of such system
other than which the Director of Public Safety may permit to be abandoned
in such place and shall also remove house distribution cables and
connections. In the event of any such removal, the company shall promptly
restore the street or other area from which such property has been
removed to a condition satisfactory to the Director of Public Safety.
Upon termination of service to any subscriber, the company shall promptly
remove all of its facilities and equipment from the premises of such
subscriber upon his request.
Upon failure of the company to complete any work required by
law or by the provisions of this chapter to be done in any street
within the time prescribed and to the satisfaction of the Director
of Streets and Public Improvements, the Borough may cause such work
to be done and the company shall pay to the Borough the cost thereof
in the itemized amounts reported by the Director of Streets and Public
Improvements to the company within 30 days after receipt of such itemized
report.
The company 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 schedules to which any customer coming within
such classification would be entitled.
A.
The company shall not transfer this franchise to another person nor
shall the identity of the general partner of this company be changed
without the prior written approval of the Borough, which approval
shall not be unreasonably withheld.
B.
The company shall file forthwith with the Borough Council a list
of the names and addresses of all of its present limited partners.
The company shall also inform the Borough Council in writing of the
names and addresses of any other persons who shall thereafter become
limited partners in the company, either by original purchase from
the company or transfer, within 15 days after such person acquires
his limited partnership interest.
Copies of all petitions, applications and communications submitted
by the company to the Federal Communications Commission, Securities
and Exchange Commission, or any other federal or state regulatory
commission or agency having jurisdiction in respect to any matters
affecting CATV operations authorized pursuant to this franchise shall
be made available to the Borough if requested.
A.
The right is hereby reserved to Council to adopt, in addition to
the provisions contained herein and in existing applicable ordinances,
such additional regulations as it shall find necessary in the exercise
of the police power.
B.
The Borough shall have the right to inspect the books, records, maps,
plans and other like materials of the company at any time during normal
business hours.
C.
The Borough shall have the right during the term of this franchise
to install and maintain free of charge upon the poles of the company
any wire and pole fixtures necessary for the police alarm system on
the conditions that such wire and pole fixtures do not interfere with
the CATV operations of the company.
An annual summary report showing gross receipts received by
the company from its operations within the Borough during the preceding
year and such other information as the Borough shall reasonably request
with respect to properties and expenses related to the company's
service within the Borough shall be filed with the Borough by the
company on or before April 4 of each year.
[Amended 4-10-1980 by Ord. No. 491]
A.
The company shall pay 5% of gross annual receipts to the Borough
of Trainer or, in the alternative, the maximum percentage allowed
by the Federal Communications Commission, not exceeding 5% of the
gross annual receipts.
B.
Payments due during the term of this franchise shall be due and payable
on or before April 1 of each year and shall be based upon the company's
gross annual receipts for the immediately preceding calendar year.
These payments are in consideration of the company's use of the
streets and other facilities of the Borough in the operation of the
CATV system and for the municipal supervision thereof. These payments
shall be in addition to any other tax or payment owed to the Borough
by the company.
The company agrees not to oppose intervention by the Borough
in any suit or proceeding to which the company is a party and which
may have predictable direct effect on the company's operations
within the Borough.
A.
The consent herein granted shall expire 20 years from the effective
date of this chapter.
B.
The consent granted herein shall be subject to renewal for a period
of 20 years at the expiration of the present term. Said franchise
shall automatically renew itself under the present terms and conditions
upon the failure of either the Borough or the company to give the
other 180 days' notice in writing of its intention to terminate
said franchise or to renegotiate said franchise. In the event that
either party desires to renegotiate said franchise, there shall be
a review of the performance of the company and the adequacy of the
terms of the present franchise in a determination of any extension
or renewal of said franchise.
The rates and charges for use of the CATV system which may be
made by the company to its subscribers shall be as follows:
A.
An initial tap-in and connection charge not to exceed $35 for any
single subscription plus a five-dollar security deposit for the converter.
This charge shall be imposed only for the initial connection of the
system of the company to the subscriber's receiver.
C.
The company shall have a right to increase subscriber's fees, installation fees, or other charges above the maximums specified in Subsections A and B above, provided that said increase does not exceed in any one year the annual cost of living increase for the Philadelphia area, based on the consumer price index for the preceding year. Said increases shall become effective on January 1 of each year and each subscriber shall be given notice of said increase at least 30 days prior to the effective date. Any increase requested by the company which is in excess of the cost-of-living increases set forth herein shall only be permitted with the approval of the Borough after public hearing.
Company shall begin construction no later than six months after
the receipt by company of all FCC permits and approvals, all state
and local permits and approvals and the signing of all joint-use agreements
for the necessary public and utility companies, and after all necessary
rearrangement of existing utility poles has been completed in order
that they are put in compliance with the National Electric Safety
Code. Said construction will continue by the company until all construction
is completed.
[Amended 11-14-1985 by Ord. No. 549]
The company shall be required when installing wires, poles and
other facilities to obtain from the Borough Secretary a permit for
the occupancy of the streets and the installation of said facilities.
[Amended 11-14-1985 by Ord. No. 549; 8-11-2005 by Ord. No. 670]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $600 and/or to imprisonment for a term not
to exceed 90 days.
