Minimum public notice of any public meeting relating to this ordinance
or the franchise shall be governed by local law.
The captions to sections throughout this ordinance are intended solely
to facilitate reading and reference to the sections and provisions of this
ordinance. Such captions shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of
this ordinance.
If any section, sentence, paragraph, term or provision of this ordinance
is determined to be illegal, invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent
jurisdiction upon final adjudication or by any state or federal regulatory
agency having jurisdiction thereof, such determination shall have no effect
on the validity of any other section, sentence, paragraph, term or provision
hereof, all of which will remain in full force and effect.
Nothing contained in this ordinance shall be construed to deprive the
grantee or the township of any grandfather rights in any future amendments
to any statute or regulation.
A.
Invitation of any applications for a franchise; public
notice of request for proposals. The township may invite applications for
a cable television franchise by means of a public notice advertising the availability
of its request for proposals. The public notice shall contain, but need not
be limited to:
(1)
A description of the franchise area which is sought.
(2)
A statement that a formal request for proposals is available
to prospective applicants from a township official whose name, address and
telephone number are specified.
(3)
A statement that applications for the franchise must
be submitted in writing in the form and manner specified in the request for
proposals no later than a day certain.
(4)
A statement that all applications will be made available
for public inspection during normal business hours at a specified location.
B.
Request for proposals. Prior to inviting any applications
for any television franchise, the township shall prepare a request for proposals
that shall contain, but need not be limited to, the following:
(1)
A description of the cable communications system and
services desired by the township, including any system specifications established
by the township.
(2)
A statement specifying the form that all applications
shall follow.
(3)
A statement indicating the amount of the application
fee (if any) to be submitted with the application and the manner in which
such fee is to be submitted.
(4)
A statement that all applications must contain the information
required by the request for proposal.
(5)
The closing date for the submission of applications.
(6)
The name, address and telephone number of the township
official(s) who may be contacted for further information.
C.
Requirement for public hearing on reasonable notice.
The township shall conduct a public hearing prior to awarding any cable television
franchise. The hearing shall be preceded by reasonable notice to each of the
franchise applicants and to the public and shall be conducted by the township
Board of Supervisors in accordance with the following procedures:
(1)
There shall be an agenda for the hearing which shall
specify the proposal(s) to be considered at the hearing.
(2)
Every person who has applied for a cable television franchise
shall appear at the hearing either in person or by authorized representative.
The application of any applicant not so appearing shall not be further considered,
except for good cause shown.
(3)
All persons shall be given opportunity to participate
in the hearing, but nothing contained herein shall limit the power of the
presiding officer to establish reasonable time limits and otherwise limit
repetitive statements or questions.
(4)
The notice of hearing shall:
D.
Township discretion. The township, at its discretion,
may reject any application for a franchise. In awarding a franchise, the township
shall allow the applicant's cable system a reasonable period of time
to become capable of providing cable service to all households in the franchise
area; may require adequate assurance that the cable operator will provide
adequate public, educational and governmental access channel capacity, facilities
or financial support; and may require adequate assurance that the cable operator
has the financial, technical or legal qualifications to provide cable service.
Unless otherwise indicated, when the performance or doing of any act,
duty, matter, payment or thing is required hereunder and a period of time
or duration for the fulfillment of doing thereof is prescribed and is fixed
herein, the time shall be computed so as to exclude the first and include
the last day of the prescribed or fixed period of duration time. When the
last day of the period falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, that
day shall not be counted in the computation.
This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from the date of adoption.
