This chapter shall be known as the "Crisfield
Cable Television Franchise Ordinance." The purposes of this chapter
are: to establish the terms and conditions under which a cable television
system must operate within Crisfield, Maryland (which may hereafter
be referred to as "city," "franchising authority" or "grantor"); to
provide for the payment of a franchise fee to the city for costs associated
with administering and regulating the system; and to grant a cable
television franchise to Falcon Cable Media (hereafter referred to
as "Falcon" or "grantee").
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings
defined herein, unless the context clearly indicates that another
meaning is intended. Words used in the present tense include the future,
words in the plural number include the singular number, and words
in the singular number include the plural number.
CABLE ACT
The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 as modified by
the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992,
and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM
Any nonbroadcast facility consisting of a set of transmission
paths and associated signal reception, transmission and control equipment
that is designed to distribute to subscribers or other users audio,
video and other forms of communications services via electronic or
electrical signals.
CHANNEL
A band of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum capable
of carrying one audiovisual television signal.
CITY
Crisfield, Maryland, in its present form or in any later
reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form, which
is legally authorized to grant a cable television franchise under
state and federal law. The city may also be referred to as "franchising
authority" or "grantor."
FALCON
Falcon Cable Media, which may also be referred to as "grantee."
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission.
FRANCHISE
The rights granted pursuant to this chapter to construct,
own and operate a cable television system along the public ways in
the city, or within specified areas in the city.
FRANCHISE AREA
That portion of the city for which a franchise is granted
under the authority of this chapter. If not otherwise stated in an
exhibit to this chapter, the franchise area shall be the legal and
geographic limits of the city, including all territory which may be
hereafter annexed to the city.
FRANCHISING AUTHORITY
Crisfield, Maryland, its duly elected governing body, its
lawful successors or such other person or body duly authorized by
the city to grant a cable television franchise.
GRANTEE
A person or business entity, or its lawful successor or assignee,
which has been granted a franchise by the city pursuant to this chapter.
GROSS SUBSCRIBER RECEIPTS
As the term is used in calculating franchise fees, means
revenues actually received by the grantee from television services
it provides to its subscribers in Crisfield after deducting the following:
any fees or assessments levied on subscribers or users of the system
which are collected by the grantee for payment to a governmental entity;
franchise fees paid by the grantee to the city; state or local sales
of property taxes imposed on the grantee and paid to a governmental
entity; and federal copyright fees paid by the grantee to the Copyright
Tribunal in Washington, D.C.
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS
Those hours which most similar businesses in the community
are open to serve customers.
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS
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 increases, regular peak
or seasonal demand periods and maintenance or upgrade of the cable
system.
PUBLIC WAY OR RIGHT-OF-WAY
The surface, the air space above the surface and the area
below the surface of any public street, highway, lane, path, alley,
sidewalk, boulevard, drive, bridge, tunnel, park, parkways, waterways
or other public rights-of-way including public utility easements or
rights-of-way and any temporary or permanent fixtures or improvements
located thereon now or hereafter held by the city which shall entitle
the city and the grantee to the use thereof for the purpose of installing
and maintaining the grantee's cable television system.
SCHOOL
Any public elementary or secondary school.
SUBSCRIBER
Any person who receives monthly cable television service
provided by the grantee's cable television system.
It shall be unlawful to operate a cable television
system within the city unless a valid franchise has first been obtained
from the city pursuant to the terms of this chapter. A franchise granted
pursuant to this chapter shall authorize the grantee to provide cable
television services within the city and to charge subscribers for
such services. It shall also authorize and permit the grantee to traverse
any portion of the city in order to provide service outside the city.
Unless otherwise specified, the franchise area shall be legal boundaries
of the city.
A franchise is hereby granted to Falcon Cable Media (which may be referred to herein as "Falcon" or "grantee") to operate and maintain a cable television system in the city for a period of five years commencing on the date of adoption of this chapter. The franchise shall be automatically renewed for an additional term of 10 years, provided that the grantee has completed the rebuild of the system as provided for in §
34A-12 herein and is otherwise in compliance with the terms of this chapter.
The grantee shall provide, without charge, one
service outlet activated for basic subscriber service to each police
station, fire station, public school, public library and the City
Office. If it is necessary to extend the grantee's trunk or feeder
lines more than 200 feet solely to provide service to any such school
or public building, the city or the building owner or occupants shall
have the option of either paying grantee's direct costs for line extensions
in excess of 200 feet or releasing the grantee from the obligation
to provide service to such building. Furthermore, the grantee shall
be permitted to recover the direct cost of installing cable service,
when requested to do so, in order to provide more than one outlet,
inside wiring or a service outlet requiring more than 200 feet of
drop cable to any public building.
The grantee agrees that, in consideration of
the city's renewal of the franchise, it will rebuild the cable system
by December 31, 1999. The system will have the capacity to provide
a minimum of 80 channels of programming as needed. The rebuilt system
may use fiber optics, upgraded electronics and other components, or
any other available transmission technology in order to improve the
signal quality and reliability of the system. As part of the system
rebuild, the grantee agrees that it will ensure the quality and reliability
of signals currently being transmitted to the City of Crisfield and
that all signals transmitted on the cable system shall meet all federal
technical standards applicable to television signal quality and pass
a high quality video signal to subscribers. All active house-drops
shall be upgraded to RG6 cable or equal, when it has been determined
by a qualified technician that the old drop is bad. House-drops extending
more than 200 feet shall be upgraded to RG11 cable or equal, when
it has been determined by a qualified technician that the old drop
is bad. If the grantee fails to complete the rebuild by December 31,
1999, then, in addition to all other remedies available to the city,
the grantee shall pay the city a penalty of $500 per day until the
rebuild is complete; this clause shall not be construed, however,
as providing a means by which the grantee may extend its rebuild deadline
or otherwise limit or displace the rights and remedies available to
the city.
Within 90 days following the grant of a franchise,
the grantee shall obtain the following insurance policies:
A. A general comprehensive liability policy indemnifying,
defending and saving harmless the city, its officers, boards, commissions,
agents or employees from any and all claims by any person whatsoever
on account of injury to or death of a person or persons occasioned
by the operations of the grantee under the franchise herein granted,
or alleged to have been so caused or occurred, with a minimum liability
of $500,000 per personal injury, death of any one person or damage
to property and $1,000,000 for personal injury, death of any two or
more persons in any one occurrence or damage to property.
B. All insurance policies called for herein shall be
in a form satisfactory to the city and shall require 30 days' written
notice of any cancellation to both the city and the grantee. The grantee
shall, in the event of any such cancellation notice, obtain, pay all
premiums for and file with the city written evidence of the issuance
of replacement policies within 30 days following receipt by the city
or the grantee of any notice of cancellation. In recognition of the
foregoing, each party agrees to cause its respective insurance carriers
to waive any rights of subrogation.
The grantee, by its acceptance of a franchise
granted pursuant to this chapter, shall indemnify and hold harmless
the city, its officials, boards, commissions and employees against
any and all claims, suits, causes of action, proceedings and judgments
for damage arising out of the award of a franchise to the grantee
and its operation of the cable television system under the franchise.
These damages shall include, but not be limited to, penalties arising
out of copyright infringements and damages arising out of any failure
by the grantee to secure consents from the owners, authorized distributors
or licensees of programs to be delivered by the grantee's cable television
system, whether or not any act or omission complained or is authorized,
allowed or prohibited by the franchise.
Before exercising any right of redress available
to it under the terms of this chapter, including determination of
any penalty assessable under applicable law, the city shall follow
the procedures set forth in this section.
A. The city shall notify the grantee in writing, by certified
mail, of any alleged violation ("violation notice"), which notice
shall include a detailed description of any alleged violation and
a request for cure of such violation.
B. The grantee shall have 30 days from the date or receipt
of such notice to respond in writing, indicating: that the grantee
has cured the alleged violation, providing reasonable documentation
demonstrating that the alleged violation has been cured; that the
grantee has commenced or will commence actions to cure the alleged
violation within a reasonable, specified period but that the alleged
violation cannot reasonably be cured immediately, describing the steps
taken to cure the alleged violation; or that the grantee disagrees
with the allegation that a violation has occurred and contests the
violation notice, stating the reasons therefor. If a violation is
cured by the grantee within 30 days of receipt of notice, then no
penalty shall be imposed.
C. Upon receipt of the grantee's response to the violation
notice, the city may either accept the grantee's proposed cure and/or
explanation or, if it believes that the violation will not be cured
within a reasonable period of time, the city may schedule an administrative
hearing before the Mayor and City Council providing the grantee no
less than 15 days' written notice of the hearing which shall afford
the grantee due process including an opportunity to present evidence.
D. Within 15 days following an administrative hearing
before the Mayor and City Council on an alleged violation, the city
shall issue a written report stating its findings and the reasons
therefor. The city may determine that the alleged violation has been
corrected, or is in the process of being corrected by the grantee,
and that no further action is required; that an extension of time
or other appropriate relief should be granted until the cure for the
problem can be completed by the grantee; that the problem is beyond
the grantee's direct control and that the grantee is not at fault;
or that other appropriate action should be taken.
In the event that the grantee is prevented or
delayed in the performance of any of its obligations under this chapter
by reason of flood, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or other
acts of God, unavoidable casualty, insurrections, war, riot, sabotage,
vandalism, strikes, boycotts, lockouts, labor disputes, unusually
severe weather conditions or any other event which is beyond the reasonable
control of the grantee, the grantee shall have a reasonable time under
the circumstances to perform its obligations under this chapter or
to procure a reasonable and comparable substitute for such obligations.
Under such circumstances the grantee shall not be held in default
or noncompliance with the provisions of the chapter nor shall it suffer
any penalty relating thereto.
The grantee and the city shall at all times
comply with all applicable state and federal laws and the applicable
rules and regulations of administrative agencies. The city and the
grantee reserve all rights they each must possess under law, unless
expressly waived herein.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
the city shall not meet to take any final action involving the grantee's
franchise unless the city has notified the grantee by certified mail,
at least 30 days prior to such meeting, as to its time, place and
purpose. The notice provided for in this section shall be in addition
to, and not in lieu of, any other notice to the grantee provided for
in this chapter. All notices, requests, demands and other communications
required or permitted hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed
to have been duly given if mailed by certified mail, return receipt
requested, addressed to the grantee's corporate office as follows:
Falcon Cable Media
|
10900 Wilshire Boulevard, 15th Floor
|
Los Angeles, California 90024
|
Attn: Howard Gun
|
The grantee shall neither refuse to hire nor
discharge from employment nor discriminate against any person in compensation,
terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of age, sex,
race, color, creed or national origin. The grantee shall ensure that
employees are treated without regard to their age, sex, race, color,
creed or national origin.
The grantee shall have the authority to issue
such rules, regulations, terms and conditions of its business as shall
be reasonably necessary to enable it to exercise its rights and perform
its services under this chapter and the rules of the FCC and to assure
uninterrupted service to each and all of its subscribers. Such rules
and regulations shall not be deemed to have the force of law.
If any section of this chapter or the franchise
or any portion thereof is held invalid or unconstitutional by any
court of competent jurisdiction or administrative agency, such decision
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the chapter
or franchise.
All notices, requests, demands and other communications
required or permitted hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed
to have been duly given if mailed by certified mail, return receipt
requested, addressed to the grantor's office as follows:
City of Crisfield
P.O. Box 270
Crisfield, Maryland 21817
Attn: Frederick B. Gerald, III
|