[R.O. 1991 § 615.080; Ord. No. 1607 §§ 7.01
— 7.04, 3-21-1995]
A.
Authority. The scope of authority granted to an operator to use public property shall be established in the required franchise agreement and as set forth in Chapter 510 of the City Code.
[Ord. No.
2899-14 § 1, 7-1-2014]
B.
Franchise Non-Exclusive. The right to use
and occupy the streets, City facilities and other public property
shall not be exclusive.
C.
Compliance With Zoning And Construction Codes. An operator shall comply with the terms of Chapter 400, Zoning Regulations, the Building Code,[1] and all other regulations controlling the location or
construction of such towers, poles, cables, amplifiers, conduits and
other facilities owned, leased and otherwise used by the operator
for a cable communications system.
D.
Placement Of Facilities. This Chapter does
not alter in any fashion the City's governmental power to establish
regulations on the erection, construction or installation of any facilities
which may be constructed, maintained or operated by a cable communications
system operator. An operator shall comply with such requirements,
including obtaining permits prior to excavation and providing maps
showing where construction or excavation is planned, and upon completion,
maps showing actual construction if any changes are authorized. The
City may designate where an operator may place such facilities within
the streets and other public property. Upon request, an operator shall
provide the City with complete maps showing the location of its system
in the City.
[R.O. 1991 § 615.090; Ord. No. 1607 § 7.05, 3-21-1995]
A.
Request Of The City.
1.
Governmental Powers. Whenever, because
of public necessity or the welfare of the public generally, the City
elects to change or alter the grade of any street or to sell or vacate
any street or to construct or reconstruct any water lines, sanitary
or storm sewers, watercourses, drainage ditches, conduits, playgrounds,
traffic control devices or other public improvements, an operator
shall, after thirty (30) days written request from the City, remove,
relay and relocate its poles, wires, cables, conduits and other fixtures
at its own expense.
2.
Actions As A Competitor. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if an operator shall be required to move, relay or
relocate any of its facilities in connection with the construction
or preparation for construction of a cable communications system by
the City or any affiliate of the City (regardless of whether any such
removal, relaying or relocation is required under the terms of this
Chapter, under any separate franchise agreement or under any applicable
pole attachment agreement to which the operator is a party), then
the City shall be obligated to pay all of such operator's reasonable
costs for labor and materials to effect such work, which costs (or
the operator's reasonable estimation thereof) shall be paid by the
City to the operator prior to the date such work is to be commenced.
Should the estimated costs be more than actual costs, the operator
shall refund to the City the difference.
B.
Request Of Private Parties. Whenever an
operator is requested or required by a private party, including any
utility not affiliated with the City, to remove, relay and relocate
its poles, wires, cables, conduits and other fixtures, the requesting
party shall provide thirty (30) days' advance written notice. If such
removal, relaying or relocation is required within a subdivision of
the City where all utility facilities and those of other services,
including those of the operator, are present, the entities requesting
such changes may decide among themselves who is to bear the cost of
removing, relocating or relaying the operator's facilities, provided
that the City shall not be liable to an operator for such costs. An
operator may require the payment of a reasonable predetermined cost
for the requested removal, relaying or relocation prior to commencing
work. Should an operator and the entities requesting removal, relaying
or relocation disagree as to who shall bear the cost of removing,
relocating or relaying the operator's facilities, then any of the
parties may submit the dispute to a court of competent jurisdiction.
[R.O. 1991 § 615.100; Ord. No. 1607 § 8, 3-21-1995]
A.
General Construction Practices. All construction
practices shall be in accordance with all applicable Federal, State
and local laws, rules or regulations. All installation of electronic
equipment shall be of a permanent nature and durable. All electronic
equipment installed after the date hereof shall be installed in accordance
with the provisions of applicable Codes.
B.
Antennas. Antenna supporting structures
(towers) shall be designed in accordance with applicable Codes. Antenna
supporting structures (towers) shall be painted, lighted, erected
and maintained in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations
of the Federal Aviation Administration and all other applicable Federal,
State or local laws, rules or regulations.
C.
General Operational Practices. The construction,
operation and maintenance of an operator's plant and equipment, including
but not limited to the antenna site, headend and distribution system
towers, house connections, structures, poles, wire, cable, coaxial
cable, fixtures and practices, shall be performed by experienced maintenance
and construction personnel. An operator's plant and equipment shall
be kept in a safe and suitable condition and in good order and repair,
so as not to endanger or interfere with improvements the City may
deem necessary, or to interfere in any manner with the rights of any
property owner, or to unnecessarily hinder or obstruct pedestrian
or vehicular traffic on City streets or other public property.
D.
Safety. An operator shall at all times
employ the standard of care attendant to the risks involved and shall
install and maintain in use commonly accepted methods and devices
for preventing failure and accidents which are likely to cause damage,
injury or nuisance to the public, including public employees.
E.
RF Leakage. An operator shall perform RF
leakage monitoring and testing in accordance with FCC rules and regulations.
An operator shall have the right to discontinue its service to any
subscriber's premises where uncontrollable RF radiation is originating
from inside the premises. When a resident has complained to the City
about RF interference and that complaint remains unresolved for thirty
(30) days, the City may request the performance by the operator, at
operator's cost, of reasonable tests to measure the RF leakage in
the area of the complaint. Tests performed by the operator in an effort
to resolve the resident complaint need not be duplicated by the operator.
F.
Undergrounding. In all areas of the City
where the cables, wires and other like facilities of public utilities
exist underground, or are required by the City to be placed underground,
an operator shall also place its cables, wires or other facilities
underground.
G.
Pole Attachments. An operator shall not
own any poles within the City unless approval is obtained in advance
from the City; such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld upon
a showing of need by an operator. In all areas of the City where the
cables, wires and other like facilities of an operator are attached
to any City-owned utility poles, an operator shall maintain those
attachments without charge by the City during the term of any franchise,
beyond the required franchise fee.
H.
Disturbances. In the case of any disturbance
of a street or other public property caused by an operator during
the course of construction or maintaining its system facilities, an
operator shall, at its own expense, replace and restore all paving,
sidewalk, driveway, landscaping, or surface of any street or other
public property disturbed in as good condition as before the disturbance
as is possible to the reasonable satisfaction of the City.
I.
Authority To Trim Trees. An operator shall
have authority, at its expense, to trim trees and shrubbery upon and
overhanging streets and other public property to as to prevent the
branches and foliage of such trees and shrubbery from coming in contact
and interfering with the wires, cables and other facilities of an
operator. Except in the case of emergencies, all trimming shall be
done under the supervision and direction of the City and with prior
notice to the property owner.
J.
Relocation Of Facilities. An operator shall,
upon the request of any applicant for a building moving permit to
be issued by the City, temporarily raise, lower, relay, relocate or
remove its wires, cables and other facilities to accommodate the moving
of the building, as the operator shall determine. The reasonable expense
of such temporary raising or lowering, relaying, relocation or removal
of the operator's facilities shall be paid by the person requesting
the change, and the operator shall have the authority to establish
the reasonable cost of such changes and require such payment in advance.
The operator shall be given no less than seven (7) days' advance notice
to arrange for such temporary changes.
[R.O. 1991 § 615.110; Ord. No. 1607 § 9, 3-21-1995]
A.
Performance Guidelines. The following performance
guidelines shall serve as the initial minimum guidelines for the design,
installation and operation of an operator's system:
1.
Continuous Operation. The system
shall be capable of continuous twenty-four-hour daily operation without
severe material degradation of signal except during extremely inclement
weather, and immediately following extraordinary storms which adversely
affect utility services or which damage major system components.
2.
Variables For Operation. The system
shall be capable of operating over an outdoor temperature range of
minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit (-20° F.) to plus one hundred
twenty degrees Fahrenheit (+120° F.) and over variation in supply
voltages from one hundred five (105) to one hundred thirty (130) volts
AC without catastrophic failure or irreversible performance changes.
3.
Specifications. The system shall
be capable of meeting all specifications as set forth over an outdoor
temperature range of zero degrees Fahrenheit (0° F.) to plus one
hundred degrees Fahrenheit (+100° F.) and over variation in supply
voltages from one hundred five (105) to one hundred thirty (130) volts
AC.
4.
Lack Of Interference. The system
shall be operated in such a manner as to avoid causing interference
with the reception of off-the-air signals of a cable service subscriber.
5.
Picture And Sound Quality. The system
shall be capable of producing a picture upon each cable service subscriber's
television screen in black and white or color, depending upon whether
color is being telecast and provided the subscriber's television set
is capable of producing a color picture that is materially undistorted
and materially free from ghost images other than those resulting from
ingress which can normally be expected from off-the-air signals, without
material degradation of color fidelity. The system shall produce sound
that is materially undistorted on any working receiver of a cable
service subscriber.
6.
FCC Technical Standards. Should the
FCC promulgate technical standards which exceed the performance guidelines
contained in this Chapter, an operator shall operate its system so
that it meets or exceeds FCC standards.
B.
Equipment For Hearing Impaired Persons.
Upon request, an operator shall inform subscribers where they may
obtain equipment which facilitates the reception of cable service
by hearing impaired individuals, where such properly encoded programming
exists. If such equipment is not available from other sources, an
operator shall make such equipment available for subscribers for reasonable
installation and rental charges.
C.
Performance Standards.
1.
Compliance With Technical Standards.
A cable communications system shall be designed and installed to operate
according to the technical standards and all applicable rules and
regulations of the FCC, including all future amendments or standards
required by the FCC, or any other lawful authority.
2.
Report Of Compliance. Upon request,
an operator shall provide to the City a copy of its proof of performance
test records that are maintained in accordance with the rules of the
FCC. If the City lawfully imposes technical standards on an operator,
the City and the operator shall mutually agree to appropriate proof
of performance tests for those standards.
D.
Test Procedures. An operator's methods
and schedules for testing its system on an ongoing basis shall be
at least as stringent as those in other high quality, reliable, modern
cable communications systems of similar design. A summary of all ongoing
tests shall be provided by the operator for the City's review, upon
the City's request. When a subscriber has complained to an operator
directly, or through the City, about the technical quality of the
service received by the subscriber and that complaint remains unresolved
for thirty (30) days, the City may request the performance by the
operator, at the operator's cost, of reasonable tests in addition
to those tests performed by the operator as part of its ongoing testing
program to measure the technical quality of the system in the area
of the complaint. Tests performed by the operator in an effort to
resolve the subscriber complaint need not be duplicated by the operator.
E.
Emergency Services. Subject to applicable
law, an operator shall incorporate into its system the capability
to permit the City, in times of emergency, to override the audio portion
of all channels simultaneously. The operator shall cooperate with
the City in the use and operation of the emergency alert override
system.
F.
Line Extension Policy. An operator shall
construct and extend its system pursuant to the following requirements:
1.
Existing Subdivision Or Other Developed
Area. An operator shall construct and extend and make cable service
available to every residential dwelling unit in any existing subdivision
or other developed area within the City which is unserved by any other
operator when a minimum occupied density of thirty-five (35) residential
dwelling units per street mile or twenty (20) residential dwelling
units per cable mile is realized, as measured from the existing system.
2.
Developing Subdivision Or Other Area.
An operator shall extend and make cable service available to every
residential dwelling unit in any platted phase of a developing subdivision
or other area which is unserved by any other operator when a minimum
occupied density of thirty-five (35) residential dwelling units per
street mile or twenty (20) residential dwelling units per cable mile
is realized, according to the overall system extension design necessary
to make service available to the platted phase, as measured from the
existing system.
3.
Non-Residential Areas. An operator
shall extend and make cable service available to every non-residential
building when the potential subscriber or subscribers at such non-residential
building agree to pay for the labor costs incurred and materials used
in making the extension.
4.
Isolated Residents. An operator shall
extend and make cable service available at the regular connection
charge, regardless of the density requirements in this Section, to
any isolated resident requesting connection if the connection to the
isolated resident requires no more than a standard two-hundred-foot
drop line.
5.
Extensions From Other Systems. If
there is an area within the City which is unserved by an operator,
and that area does not meet the density requirement contained in this
Chapter, an operator shall extend cable service to those residents
from cable communications systems operated by the operator in adjoining
jurisdictions if such extension is technically and economically feasible.
In such case, requirements relating to the physical and technical
characteristics and capabilities of the extension shall be controlled
by the terms and conditions of the franchise granted by the jurisdiction
from which the service is imported.
6.
Assistance By City. In all cases,
an operator may enlist the aid of the City to obtain plats from the
City to determine density levels in unserved areas, the percent of
residents committed to subscribe to the service once available, the
boundaries between residential areas, or any other assistance which
may facilitate extension and provision of cable service. Services
which cannot be provided by employees of the City shall be obtained
by the operator at its own expense.
7.
Density Per Cable Mile. For the purposes
hereof, density per cable mile shall be computed by dividing the number
of residential dwelling units in the area by the length, in miles
or fractions of miles, of the total amount of aerial or underground
cabling necessary to make service available to the residential dwelling
units in the area in accordance with the design parameters of the
cable communications system being constructed. The cable length shall
be measured from the nearest point of access to the existing system,
provided that such access is technically feasible, and located within
the streets, other public property, private easements or rights-of-way.
The total cable length shall exclude the drop cable necessary to serve
individual subscriber premises.
8.
Construction Time. Once an area has
been identified as meeting the density requirements contained herein,
an operator shall begin designing an extension to such area within
ninety (90) days. Construction shall be completed and service made
available to residents in such area within a reasonable time thereafter.
G.
Low Density Service. For the purpose of
providing cable service to residents on an accelerated basis, the
City, through its Franchise Administrator, and an operator may mutually
agree to any other alternative methods of extending cable service
into areas of the City where the minimum occupied density is less
than the requirements of this Chapter. Such circumstances may include,
but are not limited to the following:
1.
Voluntary Extension. An operator
may extend its system into any such "low density" areas of the City
at its own discretion.
2.
Cost-Sharing Agreement. In any unserved
developing area having a minimum occupied density that is less than
the requirements of this Chapter, an operator may negotiate a cost-sharing
agreement with the area's developer or any of the area's residents
according to the general guidelines contained in Appendix I —
A Capital Cost Sharing Plan for Low Density Areas, which is on file
in the City offices.
3.
Allocation Of Costs. Should the City
and an operator enter into an agreement as provided herein, the operator
shall be entitled to treat the costs of extension of its system pursuant
to this provision as "external costs" under applicable FCC rate regulations,
or otherwise to pass through such costs to subscribers.
4.
Interconnection. Provided there is
no decrease in the technical quality of service provided to subscribers
in the City, a system may be interconnected with other cable communications
systems of the operator or other operators.
