All franchises to which the City of Lapeer is a party when this
charter becomes effective shall remain in full force and effect in
accordance with their respective terms and conditions.
Public utility franchises and all renewals and extensions thereof
and amendments thereto shall be granted by ordinance only. No exclusive
franchise shall ever be granted. No franchise shall be granted for
a longer period than 30 years.
No franchise ordinance which is not subject to revocation at
the will of the Commission shall be enacted nor become operative until
the same shall have first been referred to the people at a regular
or special election and received the affirmative vote of three-fifths
of the electors voting thereon. No such franchise ordinance shall
be approved by the Commission for referral to the electorate before
30 days after application therefor has been filed with the Commission
nor until a public hearing has been held thereon, nor until the grantee
named therein has filed with the Clerk his unconditional acceptance
of all terms of such franchise. No special election for such purpose
shall be ordered unless the expense of holding such election, as determined
by the Commission shall have first been paid to the Treasurer by the
grantee.
A franchise ordinance or renewal or extension thereof or amendment
thereto which is subject to revocation at the will of the Commission
may be enacted by the Commission without referral to the voters, but
shall not be enacted unless it shall have been complete in the form
in which it is finally enacted and shall have been so on file in the
office of the Clerk for public inspection for at least four weeks
after publication of a notice that such ordinance is so on file.
All public utility franchises granted after the adoption of
this charter, whether it be so provided in the granting ordinance
or not, shall be subject to the following rights of the city, but
this enumeration shall not be exclusive or impair the right of the
Commission to insert in such franchise any provision within the power
of the city to impose or require:
(a) To repeal the same for misuse, non-use or failure to comply with
the provisions thereof;
(b) To require proper and adequate extension of plant and service and
maintenance thereof at the highest practicable standard of efficiency;
(c) To establish reasonable standards of service and quality of products
and prevent unjust discrimination in service or rates;
(d) To require continuous and uninterrupted service to the public in
accordance with the terms of the franchise throughout the entire period
thereof;
(e) To use, control and regulate the use of its streets, alleys, bridges
and other public places and the space above and beneath them;
(f) To impose such other regulations as may be determined by the Commission
to be conductive to the safety, welfare, and accommodation of the
public.
All public utility franchises shall make provision therein for
fixing rates, fares and charges, and may provide the readjustments
thereof at periodic intervals. The value of the property of the utility
used as a basis for fixing such rates, fares and charges shall in
no event include a value predicated upon the franchise, goodwill or
prospective profits.
Every public utility whether it has a franchise or not shall
pay such part of the cost of improvement or maintenance of streets,
alleys, bridges, and other public places as shall arise from its use
thereof and shall protect and save the city harmless from all damages
arising from said use. Every such public utility may be required by
the city to permit joint use of its property and appurtenances located
in the streets, alleys, and other public places of the city by the
city and by other utilities insofar as such joint use may be reasonable
rental therefor. In the absence of agreement and upon application
by any public utility, the Commission shall provide for arbitration
of the terms and conditions of such joint use and the compensation
to be paid therefor, and the arbitration award shall be final.