[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Kingwood 2-3-2009 by Ord. No. 15-02-2009. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Township hereby grants to Service Electric Cable TV of Hunterdon.
Inc. ("SECTVH") renewal of its nonexclusive municipal consent to place
in, upon, across, above, over and under highways, streets, alleys,
sidewalks, easements, public ways and public places in the Township,
poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes and other television
conductors, fixtures, apparatus and equipment as may be necessary
for the construction, operation and maintenance in the Township of
a cable television and communications system.
For the purpose of this ordinance, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. Such
meaning or definition of terms is supplemental to those definitions
of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") rules and regulations,
47 C.F.R. Subsection 76.1 et seq., and the Cable Communications Policy
Act, 47 U.S.C. Section 521 et seq., as amended, and the Cable Television
Act, N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1 et seq., and shall in no way be construed to
broaden, alter or conflict with the federal and state definitions:
APPLICATION
SECTVH's Application for Municipal Consent.
BASIC CABLE SERVICE
Any service tier, which includes the retransmission of local
television broadcast signals and any public, educational and governmental
channels.
BOARD or BPU
The Board of Public Utilities, State of New Jersey.
COMPANY
The grantee of rights under this ordinance and is known as
Service Electric Cable TV of Hunterdon, Inc. ("SECTVH").
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission.
PRIMARY SERVICE AREA (PSA)
Consists of the area of the Township currently served with
existing plant as set forth in the map annexed to the SECTVH's Application
for Municipal Consent.
Public hearings conducted by the Township, concerning the renewal
of municipal consent herein granted to the company were held after
proper public notice pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Act
and the regulations of the Board adopted pursuant thereto. Said hearings,
having been fully open to the public, and the Township, having received
at said public hearings all comments regarding the qualifications
of the company to receive this renewal of municipal consent, the Township
hereby finds that the company possesses the necessary legal, technical,
character, financial and other qualifications and that the company's
operating and construction arrangements are adequate and feasible.
A. The nonexclusive municipal consent granted herein shall extend for
15 years from the date of the issuance of a renewal certificate of
approval by the Board.
B. If there exists a period of time following the expiration of the Township's original consent granted under the prior §
A163-1 et seq., Kingwood's Cable Television Ordinance, until such time that a decision is made by municipal governing body relative to the renewal of said consent, the company shall petition the Board for a certificate of approval authorizing continued operation during any such period.
C. In the event that the municipality shall find that the company has
not substantially complied with the material terms and conditions
of this ordinance, the municipality shall have the right to petition
the OCTV, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:5A-47, for appropriate action, including
modification and/or termination of the certificate of approval; provided,
however, that the municipality shall first have given the company
written notice of all alleged instances of noncompliance and an opportunity
to cure same within 90 days of that notification or such additional
period as may be necessary where the cause of the noncompliance is
beyond the reasonable control of the company.
D. Notification of impending transfer. SECTVH shall give the municipality
30 days' notice of any impending transfer of the franchise to any
other entity, person, or otherwise.
A. Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Act, the company shall,
during each year of operation under the consent granted herein, pay
to the Township 2% of the gross revenues from all recurring charges
in the nature of subscription fees paid by subscribers for cable television
reception service in the Township or any higher amount permitted by
the Act or otherwise allowable by law, whichever is greater.
B. In the event that applicable law hereafter permits a larger franchise
fee to be collected, but does not fix the amount thereof, the municipality
and SECTVH shall negotiate in good faith with respect to the amount
thereof, which amount shall be due and payable from the date that
the franchise fee was increased by said law.
The consent granted under this ordinance to the renewal of the
franchise shall apply to the entirety of the Township and any property
subsequently annexed hereto.
A. The company shall be required to proffer service along any public
right-of-way to any person's residence or business located in all
areas of the franchise territory as described on Initial Wiring Map
attached hereto as Schedule A, at tariffed rates for standard and nonstandard installations.
Any additional line extension of the system shall be in accordance
with OCTV Line Extension Policy ("LEP"). For purposes of the LEP,
the minimum density of homes per mile shall be 16. To the extent not
inconsistent with applicable federal or state law, SECTV installation
charges and line extension policy is as set forth in its application.
B. SECTVH has modified its application as regards its line drop policy
to reflect that the company shall extend its plant from public rights-of-way
to all residences and businesses within 300 aerial or underground
feet of the operator's existing plant at no cost beyond the normal
installation rate. SECTVH shall also extend its plant at the cost
of $1 per foot after the first 300 feet of installation to subscribers
from public roads. SECTVH will also extend its plant along private
roads under the same conditions as set forth above. In the event that
the density of homes along a private road does not meet the threshold
under the company's line extension policy, the property owner(s) shall
share the cost of the line extension and provide easements or other
agreements as may be necessary for installation and maintenance of
the company's facilities at the expense of the property owner(s) but
for the benefit of the company.
A. Restoration. In the event that the company or its agents shall disturb
any pavement, street surfaces, sidewalks, driveways, or other surface
in the nature topography, the company shall, at its sole expense,
restore and replace such places or things so disturbed in as good
a condition as existed prior to the commencement of said work.
B. Relocation. If at any time during the period of this consent, the
municipality shall alter or change the grade of any street, alley
or other way or place, the company, upon reasonable notice by the
municipality, shall remove, re-lay or relocate its equipment, at the
expense of the company.
C. Temporary removal of cables. The company shall, upon request of the
municipality at the company's expense, temporarily raise, lower, or
remove its lines in order to facilitate the moving of buildings or
machinery or in other like circumstances. Whenever the request is
made by, for, or on behalf of private parties, the cost will be borne
by those same parties.
D. Removal or trimming of trees. During the exercise of its rights and
privileges under this franchise, the company shall have the authority
to trim trees upon and overhanging streets, alleys, sidewalks or other
public places of the municipality so as to prevent the branches of
such trees from coming in contact with the wires and cable of the
company. Such trimming shall be only to the extent necessary to maintain
proper clearance of the company's wire and cables.
In providing services to its customers, the company shall comply
with N.J.A.C. 14:18-1 et seq. and all applicable state and federal
statutes and regulations, including, but not limited to, technical
standards for the transmission of television signals, transmission
quality or facilities and equipment. The company shall strive to meet
or exceed all voluntary company and industry standards in the delivery
of customer service and shall be prepared to report on it to the community
upon written request of the Township.
A. The company shall continue to comply fully with all applicable state
and federal statues and regulations regarding credits for outages,
the reporting of same to regulatory agencies and notification of same
to customers. Every effort shall be made by SECVTH to repair service
outages within 24 hours of their being reported. If such repair is
not made within 24 hours, SECTVH shall reimburse each affected subscriber
the subscriber's daily fee for each day of lost service in accordance
with the requirements and procedures of the office.
B. The company shall continue to fully comply with all applicable state
and federal statutes and regulations regarding the availability of
devices for the hearing impaired and the notification of same to customers.
C. The company shall use every reasonable effort to meet or exceed voluntary
standards for telephone accessibility developed by the National Cable
Television Association (NCTA) except those which are modified by the
office.
D. Nothing herein shall impair the right of any subscriber or the municipality
to express any comment with respect to telephone accessibility to
the Complaint Officer, or impair the right of the Complaint Officer
to take any action that is permitted under law.
E. SECTVH shall provide a toll-free telephone number for customer calls,
said number to be included on all monthly bills. All equipment provided
by SECTVH shall be serviced, repaired or replaced by SECTVH through
service calls made directly to the individual subscriber's location
unless such calls can be resolved electronically or in another mutually
agreeable manner.
F. SECTVH shall notify the municipality or its designee at least 30
days in advance of any proposed rate increase and shall publish all
its rates for all subscriber services to each customer in a manner
consistent with the requirements of the office.
G. SECTVH shall give due consideration to programming preferences expressed
by customers. Further, SECTVH shall provide subscribers in the Township
with at least the same broad categories of programming, in approximately
the same quality, as are now provided and which appear in the application.
H. SECTVH will endeavor at all times to keep rates reasonably comparable
to other area systems on a cost-per-channel basis, and the rates charged
to the subscribers of Kingwood Township shall not be higher than the
rates charged to any other subscriber of SECTVH within its other franchised
municipalities.
I. SECTVH shall provide reasonable notice informing subscribers of telephone
numbers, addresses and procedures in order to keep them informed of
all cable television services available from SECTVH.
J. SECTVH shall comply with any state law or regulation, and shall use
its best efforts to comply with any guideline with respect to maintaining
space for a statewide interconnect channel.
The Office of Cable Television is hereby designated as the Complaint
Officer for the municipality pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:5A-26(b). All
complaints shall be received and processed in accordance with N.J.A.C.
14:17-6.5. The municipality shall have the right to request copies
of records and reports pertaining to complaints by Township customers
from the OCTV.
A. During the term of this franchise, and any renewal thereof, the company
shall maintain a local business office or agent for the purpose of
receiving, investigating and resolving all complaints regarding the
quality of service, equipment malfunctions and similar matters.
B. Such local business office shall be open during normal business hours
and in no event less than 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Telephone answering for such purposes as mentioned herein will be
provided by the company's employees, representatives or agents 24
hours per day.
C. The telephone number and address of the local office shall be listed
in applicable telephone directories and in correspondence from the
company to the customer. The telephone number for the local office
shall utilize an exchange that is a non-toll call for Township residents.
During the life of the franchise, the company shall give to
the municipality a bond in the amount of $25,000. Such bond shall
be to insure the faithful performance of all undertakings of the company
as represented in its application for municipal consent incorporated
herein. The municipality reserves the right by resolution to require
a reasonable increase in the amount of said bond, subject to review
by the OCTV and approval by the Board.
The rates of the company shall be subject to regulation as permitted
by federal and state law. If applicable law is hereafter amended to
permit the exercise of regulatory power over rates by municipalities,
the municipality reserves the right to exercise the maximum power
permitted by law at such time said law becomes effective.
A. The company shall continue to provide the installation of one outlet
and basic monthly service to public buildings within the Township,
including the Municipal Building, Fire Station, Township Elementary
School and First Aid Station.
B. The company shall also provide such public, educational and governmental
access channel as provided in its application, such channel being
shared with other communities.
A. Service Electric will upgrade the cable system in Kingwood Township.
B. The upgrade is to cover all homes in the Township that are passed
by the current cable system (customer and non-customer homes alike).
C. Design of system upgrade would be done in 2009.
D. Construction of upgrade would thereafter begin in 2010 and is to
be completed within two years of the receipt of all permits and authorizations;
except for any delays cause beyond the control of Service Electric.
E. System upgrade to include:
(1)
A fiber overlay of the current cable plant.
(2)
Additional fiber nodes to reduce amp runs and number of homes
passed per node.
(3)
Replacement of current amps with new commercial one-gigahertz
amplifiers.
F. The upgrade will allow for the development of the following advanced
services:
(1)
High-speed two-way internet services at speeds far faster than
today's DSL technology.
(2)
Far more high-definition channels.
(3)
Video-on-demand movies, events and television programs.
(4)
A high quality internet-based telephone service.
G. With this upgrade, Service Electric will be able to make available
to the residents of Kingwood Township all the advanced services offered
in the larger urban areas of its system in New Jersey.
H. Company representatives shall appear at least once annually, upon
reasonable written request of the Township, at a public hearing of
the governing body or before the Township's Cable Television Advisory
Committee, to discuss matters pertaining to the provision of cable
service to residents of the Township and other related issues as the
Township and company may see fit.
In the event that the Township determines that it is necessary
and feasible for it to contract with the company for the purpose of
providing two-way or interconnection services, the company shall be
required to apply to the BPU for approval to enter into and establish
the terms and conditions of such contract. All costs for such application
to the BPU shall be borne by the Township.
A. The company shall be required to fully comply with all applicable
federal and state statutes and regulations, rules and regulations
governing the implementation, operation and testing of the Emergency
Alert System (EAS).
B. The company shall in no way be held liable for any injury suffered
by the municipality or any other person, during an emergency, if for
any reason the municipality is unable to make full use of the cable
television system as contemplated herein.
The company shall at all times maintain a comprehensive general
liability insurance policy with a single limit amount of $1,000,000
covering liability for any death, personal injury, property damages
or other liability arising out of its construction and operation of
the cable television system, and an excess liability (or "umbrella")
policy in the amount of $3,000,000. The municipality shall be named
as an additional insured under said policy.
All of the commitments and statements contained in the application
and any amendment thereto submitted in writing to the municipality
by the company, except as modified herein, are binding upon the company
as terms and conditions of this municipal consent. The application
and any other relevant writings submitted by the company shall be
considered a part of this ordinance and made a part hereof by reference
as long as it does not conflict with state or federal law. All ordinances
or parts of ordinances or other agreements between the Township and
the company that are in conflict with the provisions of this agreement
are hereby declared invalid and superseded.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion
of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional
by any court or federal or state agency of competent jurisdiction,
such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent
provision, and its validity or unconstitutionality shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portions of the ordinance.
Should any of the federal or state statutes, regulations or pronouncements applicable to the regulation of cable television be modified in any way, such modifications, to the extent that they embody required terms and conditions and meaningfully can be incorporated into this ordinance, shall be so incorporated, consistent with any applicable effective dates specified in such modification. To the extent that any such modification places limits on permissible terms and conditions and any provision of this ordinance becomes invalid by virtue of such modification, the preceding §
A163-20 shall apply.
Any prior ordinance of this Township granting consents to the
company or any of its predecessors is hereby repealed in its entirety
as of the effective date of this ordinance. Furthermore, all resolutions
and ordinances regarding such consents within the Township are repealed
as of the effective date of this ordinance.
This ordinance shall take effect upon the publication thereof,
the municipality receiving written notification from SECTVH that it
accepts the provisions of this ordinance and the issuance of a renewal
certificate of approval from the BPU.