[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Mahanoy City as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 12-8-1992 by Ord. No. 92-9]
This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Cable
Television Franchise Ordinance of the Borough of Mahanoy City."
This ordinance is granted at a regular public meeting of the
Borough Council of the Borough of Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County,
Pennsylvania, upon careful consideration of the qualifications, including
the legal character, financial and technical qualifications of Service
Electric Company.
A. For the purpose of this ordinance and when not inconsistent with
the context, words used here in the present tense include the future;
words in plural include the singular and vice versa. The word "shall"
is always mandatory. The captions supplied herein for each section
are for convenience only. Said captions have no force of law, are
not part of the section and are not to be used in construing the language
of the section.
B. The following terms and phrases as used herein shall be given the
meanings set forth below:
BOROUGH
The Borough of Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County, a municipal
corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
COUNCIL
The Borough Council of the Borough of Mahanoy City.
GRANTEE
Service Electric Company, a corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it is the
grantee of rights under this franchise.
GROSS SUBSCRIBER REVENUES
Any and all compensation or receipts received by the grantee
for services rendered in the Borough of Mahanoy City in connection
with the carriage of broadcast signals. "Gross subscriber revenues"
shall include revenues from leased channels or programming offered
as options to the regular service either on a per-program or per-channel
charge basis.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
A. There is hereby granted by the Borough to the grantee the right and
privilege to construct, erect, operate and maintain in, upon, along,
across, above, over or under the streets, alleys, easements, public
ways and public places now laid out or dedicated and all extensions
thereof and additions thereto in the Borough all poles, wires, cable,
underground conduits, manholes and other conductors and fixtures necessary
for the maintenance and operation in the Borough of a cable television
system for the transmitting of television signals and other signals
either separately or upon or in connection with any public utility
maintaining the same in the Borough with all of the necessary and
desirable appliances and appurtenances pertaining thereto.
B. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, this franchise
and grant shall and does hereby include the right in, over, under
and upon the streets, sidewalks, alleys, easements and public grounds
and places in the Borough to install, erect, operate or in any way
acquire the use of, as by leasing or licensing, all lines and equipment
necessary to a cable television system and the right to make connections
to subscribers and the right to repair, replace, enlarge and extend
said lines, equipment and connections.
A. The grantee shall at all times during the life of this franchise
be subject to all lawful exercise of the police power of the Borough
and to such reasonable regulation as the Borough shall hereafter by
ordinance provide. The grantee shall save the Borough harmless from
all loss sustained by the Borough on account of any suit, judgment,
execution, claim or demand whatsoever resulting from negligence of
its television system in the Borough, and for this purpose the grantee
shall carry property damage and public liability insurance with some
responsible insurance company or companies qualified to do business
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. The amounts of such insurance to be carried for liability due to
property shall be $200,000 as to any one person and $750,000 as to
any one accident, and against liability due to injury or death of
persons, $1,000,000 as to any one person and $1,000,000 as to any
one accident. The Borough shall notify the grantee within 10 days
after the presentation of any claims or demand either by suit or otherwise,
made against the Borough on account of negligence as aforesaid on
the part of the grantee.
The grantee shall maintain a business office or a toll-free
telephone listing in the Borough for the purpose of receiving inquiries
and complaints from its customers. The grantee shall respond to all
complaints by the public within five days after the receipt of the
complaint and the grantee shall in good faith resolve each complaint
swiftly and equitable.
A. All structures, lines and equipment erected by the grantee within
the Borough shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with
the proper use of streets, alleys, easements and other public ways
and places and to cause minimum interference with the rights or reasonable
convenience of property owners, and the grantee shall comply with
all reasonable, proper and lawful ordinances of the Borough now or
hereafter in force. Existing poles, posts and other such structures
of electric power system in the Borough or of any telephone company
or other public utility shall be made available to the grantee for
leasing or licensing at reasonable terms and shall be used to the
extent practicable in order to minimize interference with travel.
The Borough shall assist the grantee to the extent practicable in
obtaining joint pole use agreements from owners of existing poles.
B. In case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk, driveway or other
surfacing, the grantee shall at its own expense and cost and in a
manner approved by the Borough replace and restore all paving, sidewalk,
driveway or surface disturbed in as good condition as before said
work was commenced, and shall comply with all Borough ordinances pertaining
thereto.
C. In the event that at any time during the period of this franchise
the Borough shall lawfully elect to alter or change any street, alley,
easement or other public way requiring the relocation of the facilities
of the grantee, then in such event the grantee, upon reasonable notice
by the Borough, shall remove, relay and relocate the same at its own
expense; provided, however, that where public funds are available
for such relocation pursuant to law then in that event the grantee
shall not be required to pay the costs.
D. The grantee shall on the request of any person holding a building
moving permit issued by the Borough temporarily raise or lower its
lines to permit the moving of the building.
E. The grantee shall have the authority to trim trees upon and overhanging
all streets, alleys, easements, sidewalks and public places of the
Borough so as to prevent the branches of such trees from coming into
contact with the facilities of the grantee.
F. All poles, lines, structures and other facilities of the grantee
in, on, over and under the streets, sidewalks, alleys, easements and
public grounds or places of the Borough shall be kept by the grantee
at all times in a safe and proper condition.
A. This franchise is governed by and subject to all applicable rules
and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, specifically
including Part 76, and by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Should
there be any modifications of the provisions of Section 76.31 of the
rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission which
must be incorporated into this franchise, the Borough and the grantee
agree that such incorporation shall be accomplished within one year
after the effective date of the FCC's adoption of the modification
or upon renewal of this franchise, whichever occurs first.
B. If the federal or state regulations applicable to this franchise
agreement should be modified or amended to grant to the Borough greater
rights or control or increased franchise fees, the Borough shall have
the right to renegotiate the terms of this agreement affected by said
modifications or amendments.
This franchise shall take effect and be in full force from and
after the final passage hereof, subject to acceptance by the grantee
as herein provided, and the same shall continue in full force and
effect for the term of 10 years beginning December 8, 1992.
If the grantee should violate any of the terms, conditions or
provisions of this franchise or if the grantee should fail to comply
with any reasonable provisions of any ordinance of the Borough regulating
the use by the grantee of the streets, alleys, easements or public
ways of the Borough and should the grantee continue to violate the
same for a period of 30 days after the grantee shall have been notified,
in writing, by the Borough to desist from such violations so specified,
then the franchise granted herein shall be deemed to be annulled and
forfeited and the grantee shall lose all the rights and privileges
granted by this franchise. The grantee shall have the right to appeal
such forfeiture to a court of competent jurisdiction.
The grantee may surrender this franchise at any time upon filing
with the Borough a written notice of its intention to do so at least
six months before the surrender date. On the surrender date specified
in the notice, all of the rights and privileges, obligations and duties
of the grantee shall terminate.
All of the rights and privileges and all of the obligations,
duties and liabilities created by this franchise shall pass to and
be binding upon the successors of the Borough and the successors and
assigns of the grantee. This franchise shall not be assigned or transferred
without the written approval of the Borough Council; provided, however,
that this section shall not prevent the assignment of the franchise
by the grantee as security for debt without such approval.
A. In consideration of this franchise, the grantee agrees to pay to
the Borough a sum of money equal to 5% of the grantee's gross
revenues per year derived from the cable television services rendered
in the Borough. Such annual sums shall be payable 1/2 thereof at the
end of each semiannual period. This semiannual anniversary shall be
the last day of June and the last day of December of each year, and
each semiannual payment shall be paid within 45 days thereafter.
B. The Borough shall have the right to review the grantee's books
and financial records on a semiannual basis if dispute should arise
as to the sum of money due and payable under this section.
This ordinance is a valid and binding contract between the Borough
and the grantee. The right to continue providing cable television
service to residents of the Borough and to collect fees for so doing
is granted to the grantee upon condition, and as consideration for,
the grantee's compliance with the terms of this ordinance and
all other laws.
The Borough shall be given a thirty-day notice, in writing,
of all anticipated rate increases by the grantee. Said notice shall
set forth the proposed increase, together with a statement of the
reasons why the proposed increase is necessary. The grantee agrees
not to raise its rates due to the franchise fee.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion
of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional
by any federal or state court or administrative agency of competent
jurisdiction specifically including the Federal Communications Commission,
such portion shall be deemed a separate distinct and independent provision,
and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion
hereof.
All ordinances and/or resolutions or part thereof, inconsistent
with this ordinance are hereby repealed, null or void.
This ordinance shall become effective on December 8, 1992.
[Adopted 8-13-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-4]
This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Cable
Television Franchise Extension Ordinance of 2002" of the Borough of
Mahanoy City.
Under the franchise ordinance, the company has been authorized
to provide cable television services in the Borough from December
8, 1992, until December 7, 2002. The company and the Borough desire
to extend the company's franchise rights for an additional 10
years, with an automatic renewal period of five years, provided the
company and the Borough agree to the extension, in writing, at least
six months prior to the ten-year renewal period. The Borough has determined
that extension of the franchise will benefit the community and its
citizens and will serve the public interest.
It is hereby ordained by the Council of the Borough of Mahanoy
City, Pennsylvania, assembled in regular session, as follows:
A. By this ordinance, the Borough hereby acknowledges that all of the terms, conditions, and requirements set forth in the franchise ordinance are extended for an additional term of 10 years, with a renewal option as set forth in §
A194-20 hereof. In this regard, all terms, conditions, and requirements of the franchise ordinance are incorporated by reference into this ordinance.
B. All terms and conditions set forth in the franchise ordinance shall
and do remain in full force and effect until the expiration of the
current franchise ordinance (December 7, 2002), at which time this
ordinance and the new ten-year franchise extension term shall commence.
C. The Borough confirms that the company is the current, lawful holder
of the franchise, that the franchise ordinance and this ordinance
are validly issued.
This ordinance, when accepted by the company, shall be and become
a valid and binding contract between the Borough and the company,
but this ordinance shall be void unless the company shall within 90
days after the final passage of this ordinance, file with the Borough
a written acceptance of this ordinance and the franchise extension
herein granted, agreeing that it will comply with all the provisions
and conditions hereof and with the existing franchise ordinance, as
extended, and that it will refrain from doing all things prohibited
by this ordinance or by the existing franchise ordinance.