[Adopted 9-15-1981 (Ch. 2, Art. VIII, of the 2010 Code)]
[Amended 11-13-1984]
Pursuant to the authority contained in MGL c. 166A and the rules
and regulations issued pursuant thereto, there shall be a Cable Television
Advisory Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission")
consisting of five members to be appointed by the Mayor. The Mayor
shall initially appoint the five members for terms as follows: one
for a term of one year, one for a term of two years, one for a term
of three years, one for a term of four years, and one for a term of
five years, respectively, from the first Monday in January next following
such appointment and until their successors are qualified. Thereafter,
as the term of office of any member expires, the Mayor shall annually,
before the first Monday of January, appoint his/her successor for
a term of five years. A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled
in like manner for the remainder of the unexpired term. The term "issuing
authority," as used in this article, shall be synonymous with the
term "Mayor" as provided by MGL c. 166A.
A.
The Commission shall have authority to create policy and/or regulate
ongoing matters concerning administration of the cable television
system as well as other matters related to the license, subject to
the issuing authority's ultimate authority and approval, as set forth
in MGL c. 166A and other applicable regulations.
B.
Subject to appeal to and the authority of the issuing authority,
the licensee shall recognize the Commission as vested with the powers
and rights of the issuing authority. The Commission may adopt any
rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of the
license, subject to the approval of the issuing authority, which rules
shall be binding on the licensee and on the public. The licensee shall
not be relieved of its obligations to comply promptly with any of
the provisions of the license by any failure of the City or said Commission
to enforce prompt compliance.
C.
The Commission, in addition to any other functions assigned to it
by the issuing authority or in the license, shall have the following
functions:
(1)
To advise the issuing authority on matters which might constitute
grounds for revocation of the franchise in accordance with the license
and any applicable law, ordinance or regulation.
(2)
To establish procedures for the hearing and disposition of complaints
from any person, firm, corporation or other entity relating to the
operation of the system.
(3)
To report annually to the issuing authority, in writing, on the regulation
of rates and the addition or discontinuance of any services and the
modification or other revision of any term or condition in the license.
This report shall include an account of franchise fees received and
distributed, the total number of hours of utilization of access channels,
hourly subtotals for various programs and categories and a review
of any plan submitted during the year by the licensee for development
of new services.
(4)
To work with the licensee's program director in order to help stimulate
community programming of the access channels and in order to help
coordinate the licensee's consultant services for the best use of
facilities and access channels.
(5)
To supervise cable operations to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory
availability of public access channels.
(6)
To appropriately designate its representatives to inspect all construction
work performed subject to the provisions of the license and to make
such inspections at any time it deems necessary to ensure compliance
with the terms of the license and other pertinent provisions of law.
(7)
To audit all license records required of the licensee by MGL c. 166A,
by the CATV Commission, or by the Federal Communications Commission
and at the Commission's discretion to require the preparation and
filing of information additional to that required herein.
(8)
To conduct evaluations of the system and the license annually with
the licensee and, pursuant thereto, make recommendations to the issuing
authority for amendments to this license.
(9)
To maintain vigilance regarding possible abuses of privacy.
(10)
To develop and publish, and amend as necessary, from time to
time, the Commission's rules and procedures to define its functions
and responsibilities. The Commission shall submit the same to the
issuing authority for approval prior to publication.
(11)
To be directly responsible, in the event a subscriber is aggrieved,
for receiving and acting upon such subscriber complaints or inquiries.
(12)
To review changes in service rates. Said changes must be submitted
to the Cable Television Advisory Commission by the licensee at least
30 days prior to said changes, and the licensee shall provide necessary
and proper justification for such service rate changes.
The members of the Commission shall be paid such compensation
as shall be determined from time to time by the Municipal Council.
Compensation shall be paid in December of each year.
