A permanent Cable Communications Advisory Commission is hereby established.
The Cable Communications Advisory Commission shall consist of five members
appointed by Borough Council to serve five-year terms. The initial appointments
to the commission shall be staggered as follows: one member shall be appointed
to a five-year term, one member to a four-year term, one member to a three-year
term, one member to a two-year term and one member to a one-year term.
All members of the Commission shall be Borough residents who have an
interest in cable communications systems. No member of the Commission shall
be a member of Borough Council, nor shall any member of the Commission be
an employee, or member of the immediate family of an employee, of a cable
communications system, nor shall any member of the Commission own a legal
or beneficial interest in a cable communications system.
The members of the Cable Communications Advisory Commission shall serve
without pay, and vacancies in said Commission occurring otherwise than by
expiration of a term shall be filled by appointment by Borough Council for
the remainder of the unexpired term.
The members of the Cable Communications Advisory Commission shall elect
their own Chairperson and Secretary and select all other necessary officers
to serve for a period of one year. The election of officers shall occur at
the first meeting of the year, to be held in January.
The Commission shall meet annually in January of each year to reorganize.
Thereafter, the Commission shall meet subject to the call of the Chair or
as prescribed by Borough Council to consider any business which may come before
it. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the Commission from meeting
more often, should it deem it necessary to do so. A majority of the Commission
shall constitute a quorum, and action taken at any meeting shall require the
affirmative vote of three members of the Commission. All meetings shall be
open to the public unless otherwise permitted by law. The Commission shall
establish its own operating procedures as may be deemed necessary from time
to time.
The Commission shall be an advisory body to the Borough Council and
shall give its counsel and guidance on all matters relating to the operations
of cable communications systems within the Borough of Carlisle and the granting
of franchises to operators. The Commission shall investigate and study all
matters concerning cable communication systems as referred to it by the Borough
Council and shall further give its specific guidance and advice on the following.
the granting and renewal of cable communications systems franchise agreements;
regulation of rates; coordination of community access activities; compliance
by operators with existing franchise agreements; and monitoring of applicable
federal and state statutes, laws and regulations pertaining to cable communications
systems. The Commission shall adopt appropriate procedures to review citizen
complaints. In the exercise of its duties, the Commission may hold such public
hearings as it deems appropriate. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit
the Borough Council from conducting such public hearings as it deems necessary
or as may be required by law.
