This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Cable Television
Franchise Ordinance."
This chapter allows the City of Brodhead to grant to a franchise
grantee, its successors and assigns a nonexclusive license to install,
maintain and operate a cable television system for the distribution
of television signals, frequency-modulated radio signals and any other
electronic signals capable of being transmitted over a fiber-optic
and/or coaxial cable network and closed-circuit television programs
for a term not to exceed 15 years, provided that the franchise grantee
conforms to the conditions, limitations and requirements of this chapter.
This chapter may be amended from time to time by the City through
the enactment of amendments thereto.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein.
When not inconsistent with the context, 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
Coaxial and/or fiber-optic cables, wave guides or other conductors
and equipment for providing television or other services by cable
or through its facilities as herein contemplated, and including closed-circuit
special event programs and educational television.
CITY
The City of Brodhead, Counties of Green and Rock, State of
Wisconsin, in its present incorporated form or in any later recognized,
consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.
COMMON COUNCIL; COUNCIL
The present governing body of the City or any future body
constituting the legislative body of the City.
FRANCHISE
A license to install, maintain and operate a cable television
system for the distribution of television signals, frequency-modulated
radio signals and any other electronic signals.
GRANTEE
A person or entity to whom or which a franchise under this
chapter is granted by the City, along with the lawful successors or
assigns of such person or entity.
GROSS REVENUES
Any revenue, derived directly or indirectly by a grantee,
its affiliates, subsidiaries, parents and any persons or entities
in which a grantee has a financial interest of 5% or more, from or
in connection with the operation of a broadband cable system, including,
but not limited to, basic or extended basic subscriber service monthly
fees, pay cable fees, installation and reconnection fees. The term
does not include any taxes on services furnished by a grantee and
imposed directly upon any subscriber or used by the City, state or
other governmental unit and collected by a grantee on behalf of said
governmental unit.
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS
Those hours during which most similar businesses in the City
are open to serve customers, plus at least one night per week until
8:00 p.m. and at least four hours on the weekend.
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS
Those conditions affecting service within the control of
the grantee. Those conditions presumed to be outside normal operating
conditions include natural disasters, human-caused disasters and civil
disturbances, power or telephone outages, and severe or unusual weather
conditions where such condition limits the grantee's ability
to provide service. Those conditions presumed to be within normal
operating conditions include special promotions, pay-per-view events,
rate increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods and maintenance,
rebuild or upgrade of the cable system.
STREET
The surface of and space above and below any public street,
road, highway, freeway, lane, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway or drive,
now or hereafter existing as such within the City.
SUBSCRIBER
Any person or entity legally receiving for any purpose the
services of a grantee herein.
All of the rights and privileges and all the obligations, duties
and liabilities created by this chapter shall pass to and be binding
upon the successors of the City and the successors and assigns of
the grantee. The franchise shall not be assigned or transferred by
the grantee without the written approval of the City hereunder, which
approval shall not be unreasonably withheld without a showing of good
cause; provided, however, that this section shall not prevent the
assignment or pledge of a franchise or system by a grantee as security
for debt without such approval; and provided, further, that transfers
or assignments of a franchise between any parent and subsidiary corporation
or between entities of which at least 51% of the beneficial ownership
is held by the grantee or any parent corporation shall be permitted
without the prior approval of the City. The sale, transfer or assignment
of a material portion of the tangible assets of a grantee to an unrelated
third party shall be considered an assignment subject to the provisions
of this section.
A. The parties to the sale or transfer of a franchise shall make a written
request to the City for its approval of a sale or transfer of the
franchise.
B. The City shall reply in writing within 30 days of the request with
a written notification of any information it needs to evaluate the
request, unless both parties agree that more time may be granted.
Within 30 days of such information being provided, the City shall
indicate approval of the request or its determination that a public
hearing is necessary.
C. If a public hearing is deemed necessary pursuant to Subsection
B, the City shall conduct such hearing within 30 days of such determination. Notice of any such hearing shall be given at least 14 days prior to the hearing by publishing notice thereof once in a newspaper of general circulation in the areas being served by the franchise. The notice shall contain the date, time and place of the hearing and shall briefly state the substance of the action to be considered by the City.
D. Within 60 days after the public hearing, the City shall approve or
deny the sale or transfer request and notify the grantee in writing
of its decision.
E. The parties to the sale or transfer of a franchise only, without
the inclusion of a cable communications system in which at least substantial
construction has commenced, shall establish to the satisfaction of
the City of Brodhead that the sale or transfer of a franchise only
will be in the public interest.
F. The new holder of a sold or transferred franchise shall, within 30
days of the sale or transfer, file with the City a copy of the deed,
agreement or other written instrument evidencing such sale, transfer
of ownership or control or lease, certified and sworn to as correct
by the grantee. The new holder shall, within the same period, file
with the City any and all required bonds, proofs of insurance and
certifications, and accept in writing all responsibilities relating
to the cable franchise and system.
The cable system shall be operated to comply with or exceed
all guidelines and standards set by the FCC for signal quality and
leakage. The City reserves the right to test the system or any part
thereof and independently measure the signal quality. The grantee
shall provide reasonable access to its facilities and any assistance
necessary for such testing. The system shall comply at all times with
the applicable National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection
Association.
A grantee shall manage all of its operations in accordance with
the policy of totally open books and records vis-a-vis the City. The
authorized officers or agents of the City shall have the right to
inspect, upon notice, during normal business hours all books, records,
maps, plans, financial statements, service complaint logs, performance
test results, records of request for service and other like materials
of the grantee that relate to the operation of the franchise.
Should any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or portion
of this chapter and or a franchise thereunder be declared to be invalid
by a court of competent jurisdiction, such adjudication shall not
affect the validity of this chapter and or the franchise as a whole,
but shall only affect the portion thereof declared to be invalid,
and the City hereby expressly states and declares that it would nonetheless
have passed this chapter and or granted the franchise had it known
that any such word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or portion
of said chapter and or franchise were invalid.
A franchise granted under this chapter shall be effective upon
written acceptance of the franchise being filed with the Clerk of
the City. The filing must take place within 30 days of the granting
of the franchise being made by the City.
This chapter and a franchise granted hereunder may be amended
to incorporate amendments to the statutes, rules and regulations of
the federal government as they are promulgated by the federal government.
Any provision therein in conflict with or preempted by said rules,
regulations or statutes shall be superseded.
A grantee shall at all times keep its cables and other appurtenances
used for transmitting signals shielded in such a manner that there
will be no interference with signals received by radios or televisions
not connected to the grantee's service.
A grantee may promulgate such rules, regulations, terms and
conditions governing the conduct of its business as shall be reasonably
necessary to enable the grantee to exercise its rights and perform
its obligations under the franchise and to assure uninterrupted service
to all its subscribers. However, such rules, regulations, terms and
conditions shall not be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter
or the laws of the state.
By the adoption of this chapter, the City expressly waives all objections it has or may have to the legal rights of the grantee to attach its cables, equipment and transmission lines to the poles of the City, pursuant to an agreement with the City per §
209-14D herein.
Grantee agrees by acceptance of a franchise that it will not
at any time set up against the City in a claim or proceeding any condition
or term of the franchise as unreasonable, arbitrary or void or that
the City had no power or authority to make such term or condition,
but shall be required to accept the validity of the terms and conditions
of the franchise in their entirety.
The grantee shall maintain resources sufficient and near enough
to the franchise territory to provide the necessary facilities, equipment
and personnel to comply with this section and other provisions of
this chapter.
A. Service standards. The grantee shall render efficient service, make
repairs promptly and interrupt service between the hours of 7:00 a.m.
and 1:00 a.m. only for good cause and for the shortest possible time.
Service may be interrupted between 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. for routine
testing, maintenance and repair, except on nights commencing on Saturday
and Sunday and on holidays. Scheduled or predictable service interruptions,
except for weekly routine maintenance, insofar as possible shall be
preceded by notice, which may be provided across the cable system.
The interruptions shall occur during periods of minimum use of the
system to the extent practicable. The grantee shall maintain a written
log or an equivalent capable of access and reproduction of all service
interruptions and requests for service, which log shall be available
for City inspection during the franchise period.
B. Telephone lines. The grantee shall provide local toll-free or collect call telephone access to its subscribers within the franchise territory. Any calls should be answered by a customer service representative during normal business hours; calls outside this period may be answered by an automated response mechanism, but such calls should be processed by a grantee's representative within 12 hours. The grantee shall provide sufficient phone answering capacity that customer calls are answered on average within 30 seconds 90% of the time, and that customers receive a busy signal no more than 3% of the time. Violations of these standards shall be subject to penalties under provisions of §
209-16.
C. Installation. The grantee shall complete requests for subscriber
installations within seven business days of order placement when the
installation is within 150 feet of the existing cable system. Installation
requests required to be honored under this chapter beyond the one-hundred-fifty-foot
standard must be completed within 14 days. If the grantee fails to
meet these standards, the grantee shall provide the subscriber with
a free month of the requested service. The grantee may request the
City toll these periods for reasonable circumstances beyond its control.
D. Repair standards. The grantee shall maintain a repair force capable,
under normal operating circumstances, of responding to service interruption
and degradation complaints made during normal business hours within
four hours. For complaints made outside normal business hours, the
grantee must respond within 16 hours. For the purpose of this subsection,
"response" shall mean at a minimum contacting the subscriber by phone
or in person. Where a grantee misses either of these deadlines, the
grantee must provide the subscriber with one free month's service.
The grantee may request the City toll the repair period for reasonable
circumstances beyond its control.
E. Service call scheduling. When the grantee needs to arrange a service
appointment at a subscriber's location, the grantee must offer
the subscriber a service window not to exceed four hours in duration.
The grantee may not cancel a service window without the subscriber's
consent. Where a grantee misses a service window, grantee must provide
the subscriber with one free month's service. The grantee may
request the City toll the service call period for reasonable circumstances
beyond its control.
F. Service interruptions and significant degradation. When the grantee
has failed to provide a subscriber with appropriate service due to
service outage or significant audio or video degradation not due to
the subscriber's equipment or action, the subscriber may request
a rebate of any fees paid for the affected service(s) under the following
schedule, and the grantee must provide such rebates. For the purposes
of this section, the outage or degradation period shall begin when
the subscriber provides notice to the grantee of the outage or degradation.
The City shall waive or modify the rebate provisions for reasonable
circumstances beyond the control of the grantee. Outages for initial
construction, upgrading and normal maintenance shall be exempt from
this section.
(1) For periods at least four hours long but under 24 hours, a rebate
of 1/30 of the monthly fee for affected services for each instance.
(2) For periods of at least 24 hours, a rebate of 1/10 of the monthly
fee for affected services for each twenty-four-hour period or portion
thereof.