A. 
A franchise granted under this chapter shall be a privilege to be held in personal trust by the franchisee.
B. 
No "transfer," as that term is defined in this chapter, shall occur unless prior application is made by a franchisee to the Town, and the Town's prior written consent is obtained, pursuant to this chapter and the franchise agreement, and only then upon such terms and conditions as the Town deems necessary and proper. Any such transfer without the prior written consent of the Town shall be considered to impair the Town's assurance of due performance. The granting of approval for a transfer in one instance shall not render unnecessary approval of any subsequent transfer.
A. 
A franchisee shall notify the Town as so as possible of any proposed transfer.
B. 
At least 120 calendar days prior to the contemplated effective date of a transfer, a franchisee shall submit to the Town a written application for approval of the transfer. Such an application shall provide complete information on the proposed transaction, including details on the legal, financial, technical and other qualifications of the transferee and on the potential impact of the transfer on subscriber rates and service. At a minimum, the following information must be included in the application, unless these requirements are waived, reduced, or modified by the Town as stated herein:
(1) 
All information and forms required under federal law.
(2) 
A detailed statement of the corporate or other business entity organization of the proposed transferee, together with an explanation of how decisions regarding the system will be made if the proposed transaction is approved.
(3) 
Any contracts, financing documents or other documents that relate to the proposed transaction and all documents, schedules, exhibits or the like referred to therein.
C. 
At a franchisee's option, the franchisee may notify the Town of the proposed transaction in general terms at least 150 days prior to the contemplated effective date of a transfer, and request that the Town waive some or all of the information requirements specified in Article IV. To the extent consistent with applicable law, the Town may waive, in writing, any such requirement that information be submitted as part of the initial application, without thereby waiving any rights the Town may have to request such information after the initial application is filed.
D. 
For the purposes of determining whether it shall consent to a transfer, the Town or its agents may inquire into all qualifications of the prospective transferee and such other matters as the Town may deem necessary to determine whether the transfer is in the public interest and should be approved, denied or conditioned. A franchisee and any prospective transferees shall assist the Town in any such inquiry, and if they fail to provide such reasonable assistance, the request for transfer may be denied.
In making a determination as to whether to grant, deny or grant subject to conditions an application for a transfer, the Town may consider, without limitation, the legal, financial and technical qualifications of the transferee to rate the system; any potential impact of the transfer on subscriber rates or services; and whether operation by the transferee or approval of the transfer would adversely affect subscribers, the Town's interest under a franchise agreement, this chapter or other applicable law; and is otherwise in the public interest.
Any transfer without the Town's prior written approval shall be ineffective and shall make the franchise subject to cancellation at the Town's sole discretion and to any other remedies available under this chapter, a franchise agreement or other applicable law.
A. 
A franchisee shall give the Town reasonable advance notice of any change of ownership or other right, title or interest of 10% or more in an entity other than a publicly traded corporation controlling the franchisee, its cable system or any person that is a cable operator of the cable system (or in the franchisee itself, if it is not a publicly traded corporation), directly or indirectly, to an entity that does not presently control such entity other than a publicly traded corporation. If the Town does not have the right under a franchise agreement and applicable law to approve or deny a change of the type defined in the preceding sentence, the franchisee shall warrant to the Town the legal, financial and character qualifications of the entity acquiring such an interest.
B. 
A franchisee will notify the Town if at any time there is a mortgage or security interest granted on substantially all of the assets of a franchisee's cable system and will provide the Town with copies of all loan documents with respect to such transaction as soon as such documents become publicly available and, if such documents do not become publicly available within 10 business days after loan closing, will make such documents available for inspection within 10 business days after loan closing.
Approval by the Town of a transfer does not constitute a waiver or release of any of the rights of the Town under this chapter or a franchise agreement, whether arising after the date of the transfer.