[HISTORY: Adopted by the Municipal Council of the Township
of Woodbridge 6-23-2020 by Ord. No. 20-42. Amendments noted where applicable.
The Township hereby grants to Comcast renewal of its nonexclusive
municipal consent to place in, upon, across, above, over and under
highways, streets, alleys, sidewalks, easements, public ways and public
places in the municipality, poles, wires, cables, underground conduits,
manholes and other television conductors, fixtures, apparatus and
equipment as may be necessary for the construction, operation and
maintenance in the Township of a cable television and communications
system.
For the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. Such
meaning or definition of terms is supplemental to those definitions
of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") rules and regulations,
47 CFR 76.1 et seq., and the Cable Communications Policy Act, 47 U.S.C.
§ 521 et seq., as amended, and the Cable Television Act,
N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1 et seq., and shall in no way be construed to broaden,
alter or conflict with the federal and state definitions:
APPLICATION
The company's application for renewal of municipal consent.
BASIC CABLE SERVICE
A" means any service tier, which includes the retransmission
of local television broadcast signals as defined by the FCC.
BOARD or BPU
The Board of Public Utilities, State of New Jersey.
COMPANY
The grantee of rights under this section and is known as
Comcast of New Jersey II, LLC.
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission.
PRIMARY SERVICE AREA or PSA
The area of the Township currently served with existing plant
as set forth in the map annexed to the company's application
for municipal consent.
Public hearings conducted by the municipality, concerning the
renewal of municipal consent herein granted to the company, were held
after proper public notice pursuant to the terms and conditions of
the Act and the regulations of the Board adopted pursuant thereto.
Said hearings, having been fully open to the public, and the Township,
having received at said public hearings all comments regarding the
qualifications of the company to receive this renewal of municipal
consent, the municipality hereby finds that the company possesses
the necessary legal, technical, character, financial and other qualifications
and that the company's operating and construction arrangements
are adequate and feasible.
a. The nonexclusive municipal consent granted herein shall expire 10
years from the date of expiration of the previous certificate of approval
issued by the Board.
b. In the event that the Township shall find that the company has not
substantially complied with the material terms and conditions of this
section, the Township shall have the right to petition the OCTV, pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 48:5A-47, for appropriate action, including modification
and/or termination of the certificate of approval; provided, however,
that the Township shall first have given the company written notice
of all alleged instances of noncompliance and an opportunity to cure
same within 90 days of that notification.
Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Act, the company
shall, during each year of operation under the consent granted herein,
pay to the Township 2% of the gross revenues from all recurring charges
in the nature of subscription fees paid by subscribers for cable television
reception service in the Township or any higher amount required by
the Act or otherwise allowable by law, whichever is greater.
The consent granted under this section to the renewal of the
franchise shall apply to the entirety of the Township and any property
subsequently annexed hereto.
The company shall be required to proffer service to any residence
or business along any public right-of-way in the primary service area,
as set forth in the company's application. The company's
line extension policy, as set forth in the company's application,
shall govern any extension of plant beyond the primary service area.
a. Restoration: In the event that the company or its agents shall disturb
any pavement, street surfaces, sidewalks, driveways, or other surface
in the natural topography, the company shall, at its sole expense,
restore and replace such places or things so disturbed in as good
a condition as existed prior to the commencement of said work.
b. Relocation: If at any time during the period of this consent, the
Township shall alter or change the grade of any street, alley or other
way or place the company, upon reasonable notice by the Township,
shall remove, re-lay or relocate its equipment, at the expense of
the company.
c. Removal or Trimming of Trees: During the exercise of its rights and
privileges under this franchise, the company shall have the authority
to trim trees upon and overhanging streets, alleys, sidewalks or other
public places of the Township so as to prevent the branches of such
trees from coming in contact with the wires and cable of the company.
Such trimming shall be only to the extent necessary to maintain proper
clearance of the company's wire and cables.
In providing services to its customers, the company shall comply
with N.J.A.C. 14:18-1, et seq. and all applicable state and federal
statutes and regulations. The company shall strive to meet or exceed
all voluntary company and industry standards in the delivery of customer
service and shall be prepared to report on it to the municipality
upon written request of the municipal administrator or clerk.
a. The company shall continue to comply fully with all applicable state
and federal statutes and regulations regarding credit for outages,
the reporting of same to regulatory agencies and notification of same
to customers.
b. The company shall continue to fully comply with all applicable state
and federal statutes and regulations regarding the availability of
devices for the hearing impaired and the notification of same to customers.
c. The company will use every reasonable effort to comply with applicable
FCC customer service requirements.
d. Nothing herein shall impair the right of any subscriber or the Township
to express any comment with respect to telephone accessibility to
the Complaint Officer or impair the right of the Complaint Officer
to take any action that is permitted under applicable law.
e. The company agrees to meet with township upon the Township's
reasonable written request to discuss customer service or issues of
concern to the Township related to compliance with the terms and conditions
of this section.
The Office of Cable Television is hereby designated as the Complaint
Officer for the Township pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:5A-26(b). All complaints
shall be received and processed in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:17-6.5.
The Township shall have the right to request copies of records and
reports pertaining to complaints by Township customers from the OCTV.
During the term of this franchise, and any renewal thereof,
the company shall maintain a business office or agent and in accordance
with N.J.A.C. 14:18-5.1 for the purpose of receiving, investigating
and resolving all local complaints regarding the quality of service,
equipment malfunctions, and similar matters. Such a business office
shall have a publicly listed toll-free telephone number and be open
during standard business hours, and in no event (excepting emergent
circumstances) less than 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
During the life of the franchise the company shall give to the
Township a bond in the amount of $25,000. Such bond shall be to insure
the faithful performance of all undertakings of the company as represented
in its application for municipal consent incorporated herein.
The rates of the company shall be subject to regulation as permitted
by federal and state law.
a. The company shall continue to make available a system-wide public
access channel maintained by the company. Qualified individuals and
organizations may utilize public access for the purpose of cablecasting
noncommercial access programming in conformance with the company's
published public access rules.
b. The company shall continue to make available a system-wide leased
access channel maintained by the company for the purpose of cablecasting
commercial leased access programming in conformance with the company's
guidelines and applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.
c. The company shall continue to make available two dedicated local
access channels maintained by the company for the purpose of cablecasting
noncommercial access programming in conformance with the company's
guideline and applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.
d. The company shall take any steps that are necessary to ensure that
the signals originated on the access channels are carried without
material degradation, and with a signal whose quality is equal to
that of the other standard channels that the company transmits.
e. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended [47 U.S.C. § 543(b)(4)], allows the company to itemize and/or identify the amount on the monthly bill assessed to satisfy any requirements imposed on the company by the cable franchise to support public, educational, and governmental channels, or the use of such channels or any other services required under the franchise. The company reserves its external cost, pass-through rights to the extent permitted by law including the services set forth in §
31-1.15a which may be recovered at the fair market value as a deduction from the 2.0% franchise fee provided herein, and §
31-1.15b. The company will notify the Township if it intends to implement said offset and the fair market value of those services provided for in §
31-1.15a at least 60 days prior to doing so.
a. The company shall provide standard installation and basic cable television
service on one outlet to all Township facilities including the Town
Hall building, each police, fire, emergency management facilities,
senior citizen centers and Township community center(s) provided the
facilities are located within 200 feet of active cable distribution
plant. Each additional outlet installed, if any, shall be paid for
on a materials plus labor basis by the Township.
b. The company shall provide up to five access channel return lines
at locations determined by the Township provided each location is
within 200 feet of an active cable plant. The return lines contemplated
under this ordinance are to be located at the following facilities:
Woodbridge High School, JFK High School, Colonia High School, Avenel
Performing Arts Center and the Barron Arts Center. All return lines
are to terminate at the Town Hall access studio location. The returns
lines are to be constructed within one year of written request from
the Township and limited to one request/location per year.
c. The company shall provide up to four video outlets within Town Hall
for the purpose of monitoring the Township's access channels.
d. The company shall provide two additional standard installation and
basic cable service outlets for the municipal courtroom and courtroom
lobby.
e. The company shall convert the Township's two current standard
definition (SD) access channels to high definition (HD) channels within
one year of written request from the Township and provided that such
requests are made in separate years at least one year apart. Once
an HD access channel is activated that channel will no longer be available
in SD.
f. Within six months of the issuance of a renewal certificate of approval
by the Board, the company shall provide to the Township a one-time
grant for PEG Access Capital support in the amount of $200,000. Said
grant shall be used for PEG Access capital equipment and facilities
purposes.
a. The company will comply with the Emergency Alert System ("EAS") rules
in accordance with applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.
b. The company shall in no way be held liable for any injury suffered
by the Township or any other person, during an emergency, if for any
reason the Township is unable to make full use of the cable television
system as contemplated herein.
The company shall at all times maintain a comprehensive general
liability insurance policy with a single limit amount of $1,000,000
covering liability for any death, personal injury, property damages
or other liability arising out of its construction and operation of
the cable television system, and an excess liability (or "umbrella")
policy in the amount of $5,000,000.
All of the statements and commitments contained in the application
or annexed thereto and incorporated therein, and any amendment thereto,
except as modified herein, are binding upon the company as terms and
conditions of this consent. The application and other relevant writings
submitted by the company shall be annexed hereto and made a part hereof
by reference provided same do not conflict with applicable state or
federal law.
Should the Township grant a franchise to construct, operate
and maintain a cable television system to any other person, corporation
or entity on terms materially less burdensome or more favorable than
the terms contained herein, the company may substitute such language
that is more favorable or less burdensome for the comparable provision
of this section subject to the provisions of N.J.A.C. 14:17-6.7.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion
of this section is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional
by any court or federal or state agency of competent jurisdiction,
such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent
provision, and its validity or unconstitutionality shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portions of this section.
Nothing in this franchise or in any prior agreement is or was
intended to confer third-party beneficiary status on any member of
the public to enforce the terms of such agreements or franchise.
This section shall take effect immediately upon issuance of
a renewal certificate of approval from the BPU.