This article shall be known and may be cited as the "City of Rockwood Cable Communications Ordinance."
For purposes of this article, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein. The words "shall" and "will" are mandatory, and the word "may" is permissive. Words not defined herein shall be given the meaning set forth in the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 USC 521 et seq., and as hereinafter may be amended, including, without limitation, the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Pub. 1. No. 102-385, 106 Stat. 1460, and, if not defined therein, their common and ordinary meaning.
ACCESS CHANNEL Any channel on a cable system set aside, without charge, by the franchisee for public, educational and/or local governmental use.
AFFILIATE Any person who, directly or indirectly, owns or controls a grantee or franchisee, any person whom a grantee or franchisee directly or indirectly owns or controls, or any person under common ownership or control with a grantee or franchisee.
APPLICANT Any person submitting an application within the meaning of this article.
APPLICATION Any proposal, submission or request to construct and operate a cable system within the city; transfer a franchise or control of the franchisee; renew a franchise; modify a franchise; or seek any other relief from the City pursuant to this article or a franchise agreement. An application includes an applicant's initial proposal, submission or request, as well as any and all subsequent amendments or supplements to the proposal and relevant correspondence.
CABLE ACT The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. § 521 et seq., as hereinafter may be amended, including, without limitation, the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Pub. 1. No. 102-385, 106 Stat. 1460.
CABLE SERVICE One or two-way transmission of video or other programming services over a cable system to subscribers, together with subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection of such programming services that a franchisee makes available to all subscribers generally.
CABLE SYSTEM, CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM or SYSTEM Any facility, operating by means of coaxial cable, optical fiber or any other transmission lines or forms of transmission and associated signal generation, reception and control equipment, that is designed to provide cable service which includes video programming and which is provided to multiple subscribers within the city. Such term does not include:
A. A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;
B. A facility that serves only subscribers in one or more multiple unit dwellings under common ownership, control or management, unless such facility uses or crosses any street;
C. A facility of a common carrier that is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., except that to the full extent permitted by law, such facility will be considered a cable system to the extent that it is used in the transmission of video programming, whether on a common carrier or noncommon carrier basis, directly to subscribers; or
D. Any facility of any electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems. The foregoing definition of "cable system" shall not be deemed to circumscribe or limit the valid authority of the City to regulate or franchise the activities of any other communications system or provider of communications services to the full extent permitted by law.
CITY The City of Rockwood, a municipal corporation of the State of Michigan, in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR The City Administrator of the City and any duly authorized designee of the City Administrator.
CONTROL OF A FRANCHISEE, GRANTEE OR APPLICANT The legal or practical ability to exert control over the affairs of a franchisee, grantee or applicant, either directly or indirectly, whether by contractual agreement, majority ownership interest, any lesser ownership interest or in any other manner.
COUNCIL The legislative body of the city.
DESIGNATED ACCESS ORGANIZATION or DAO Any nonprofit entity established or designated by the City pursuant to §
95-15 for the purpose of developing, managing, administering or using any access channel or access channels.
EQUITABLE PRICE Fair market value adjusted downward for the monetary damages to the City or subscribers, if any, resulting from a franchisee's breach of any franchise agreement clause or provision of this article requiring payment to the City or subscribers.
FAIR MARKET VALUE The price that a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller for a going concern based on the system valuation prevailing in the industry at the time, but with no value allocated to the franchise itself.
FCC The Federal Communications Commission or any successor governmental entity thereto.
FRANCHISE The right, granted by the City to a franchisee, to construct, maintain and operate a cable system under, on and over City streets within all or specified areas of the city. The term does not include any license or permit that may be required by this article or other laws, ordinances or regulations of the City for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the City or for disturbing, or carrying out any work upon, any street.
FRANCHISE AGREEMENT A contract entered into in accordance with the provisions of this article between the City and a franchisee that sets forth the terms and conditions under which the franchise shall be exercised.
FRANCHISEE Any person granted a franchise pursuant to this article who has entered into a franchise agreement with the city.
GRANTEE Any person granted a franchise pursuant to this article who has not yet entered into a franchise agreement with the city.
GROSS REVENUES All revenues of the franchisee or any of its affiliates arising from, directly attributable to or derived from the operation of a cable system by a franchisee within the city. "Gross revenues" includes, but is not limited to, fees charged to subscribers for basic service; fees charged to subscribers for any optional, premium, per-channel or per-program service; fees charged to subscribers for any tier of service other than basic service; installation, disconnection, reconnection and change-in-service fees; leased channel fees; equipment charges; fees for maintenance or service of cable equipment or facilities; fees, payments or other consideration derived from programmers for carriage of programming on the system; converter and remote rentals or sales; additional outlet charges; studio rental, production equipment and personnel fees; advertising revenues; revenues from home shopping channels; and the sale, exchange or cablecast by the franchisee of any programming developed on or for access channels or institutional users. Gross revenues shall be the basis for computing the franchise fee imposed pursuant to §
95-16. Gross revenues shall not include any taxes on services furnished by the franchisee, including the franchisee fee, which are imposed upon any subscriber or user by the state, county, City or other governmental unit and collected by the franchisee on behalf of said governmental unit.
INSTITUTIONAL NETWORK A voice, data or video communications system constructed, operated and/or maintained by the franchisee for the city, the transmissions on which are generally available only to, and intended to be sent and received by, persons other than cable subscribers generally.
LAW All duly enacted and applicable federal, state, county and City laws, ordinances, codes, rules, regulations and orders.
LEASED ACCESS CHANNEL A channel designated in accordance with Section 612 of the Cable Act, 47 U.S.C.§ 532, for commercial use by persons unaffiliated with the franchisee.
OTHER COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM A system which utilizes coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, copper wires or successor closed-transmission-path technology located in whole or in part in the public streets or rights-of-way of the City where said closed-transmission-path technology is used to provide any communications service other than cable service.
PERSON Any individual, corporation, partnership, association, joint venture, organization or legal entity of any kind, and any lawful trustee, successor, assignee, transferee or personal representative thereof, but shall not mean the city.
PROGRAMMING SERVICE A category of cable service provided by the franchisee and for which a separate charge is made by the franchisee.
STREET or STREETS The surface, the air space above the surface and the area below the surface of any public street, highway, road, freeway, thoroughfare, parkway, sidewalk, bridge, court, lane, path, alley, way, drive, circle, easement or any other public right-of-way, public way or public place, including public utility easements or any property in which the City holds any kind of property interest, and any temporary or permanent fixtures or improvements located thereon.
SUBSCRIBER Any person who legally receives any cable service delivered over a cable system.
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION Any cable system equipment or facility failure or malfunction that results in the loss of satisfactory service on one or more channels to one or more subscribers. A malfunction shall be considered a major malfunction if it affects 50 or more subscribers.
TRANSFER OF A FRANCHISE Any transaction in which:
A. An ownership or other interest in a franchisee or its cable system is transferred from one person or group of persons to another person or group of persons so that control of the franchisee is transferred; or
B. The rights and/or obligations held by the franchisee under a franchise agreement are transferred or assigned to another person or group of persons. A transfer is pro forma when it involves no substantial change in the ultimate ownership or control of the franchisee.
TWO-WAY CAPABILITY The incorporation into a cable system of all appropriate design and engineering characteristics and features so that two-way transmission, including addressability, over the system can be implemented and activated.
VIDEO CHANNEL or CHANNEL A portion of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum which is used in a cable system and which is capable of delivering a television channel, including the associated audio signal, as television channel is defined by the FCC, by regulation or otherwise.
A franchisee shall, at all times during the term of its franchise, substantially comply with all provisions relating to the use of streets or public rights-of-way found in Chapters
9,
115,
159,
212,
217,
235,
254 of the Code of the City or Rockwood, as those chapters now exist or may from time to time be amended.
The City may conduct periodic performance evaluations of a franchisee as the City determines is necessary. A franchisee shall cooperate fully with these evaluations. If the City implements a survey of cable subscribers in connection with a performance evaluation, the City may require a franchisee to distribute the city's questionnaire to its subscribers at the city's expense.
Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be subject to the payment of a civil infraction as provided in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Article
II, plus costs and other sanctions, for each infraction. Said fines or sanctions may be levied separately for each and every day the violation continues to exist. The fines and sanctions provided for herein shall be in addition to any other remedy permitted under any franchise agreement entered into pursuant to this article.