Township of White, PA Enforcement

If franchisee fails to perform in a timely manner any material obligation required by this chapter or a franchise granted hereunder, following notice from the Township and an opportunity to cure such nonperformance, Township may act to remedy such violation in accordance with the following procedures:

The Township, by action of the Board of Supervisors, shall first notify franchisee of the violation, in writing, by personal delivery or registered or certified mail and demand correction within a reasonable time, which shall not be less than 15 days in the case of the failure of the franchisee to pay any sum or other amount due the Township under this chapter or a franchise agreement hereunder and 30 days in all other cases. If franchisee falls to correct the violation within the time prescribed or if franchisee fails to commence corrective action within the time prescribed and diligently remedy such violation thereafter, the franchisee shall then be given a written notice of not less than 20 days of a public hearing to be held before the Board of Supervisors. Said notice shall specify the violations alleged to have occurred.

At the public hearing, the Board of Supervisors shall hear and consider all relevant evidence and thereafter render findings and its decision.

In the event the Board of Supervisors finds that franchisee has corrected the violation or has diligently commenced correction of such violation after notice thereof from the Township and is diligently proceeding to fully remedy such violation, or that no material violation has occurred, the proceedings shall terminate and no penalty or other sanction shall be imposed. In determining whether a violation is material, the Township shall take into consideration the reliability of the evidence of the violation, the nature of the violation and the damage, if any, caused to the Township or the Township's residents thereby, whether the violation was chronic and any justifying or mitigating circumstances and such other matters as the Township may deem appropriate.

In the event the Board of Supervisors finds that a material violation exists and that franchisee has not corrected the same in a satisfactory manner or has not diligently commenced correction of such violation, the Board of Supervisors may terminate and cancel the franchise held by the franchisee as provided in § 111-6 hereof, or impose liquidated damages, payable from the performance bond, of up to $150 per day, for failure to meet its upgrade or construction schedule as set out in the franchise agreement and up to $100 per day or per incident for all other violations of a material nature, provided that all violations of a similar nature occurring at the same time shall be considered one violation.

In the event franchisee's performance of any of the terms, conditions or obligations required by this chapter or a franchise granted hereunder is prevented by a cause or event not within franchisee's control, such inability to perform shall be deemed excused and no penalties or sanctions shall be imposed as a result thereof.

For the purpose of this section, causes or events not within the control of franchisee shall include, but not be limited to, acts of God, strikes, sabotage, riots or civil disturbances, restraints imposed by order of a governmental agency or court, failure or loss of utilities, explosion, acts of public enemies and natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, landslides and fires.