[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
No person, association, partnership or corporate entity shall
erect, install, maintain or operate a closed circuit television transmission
and distribution system, commonly known as CATV within the limits
of the City without a license to do so granted by Council.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
Any person, association, partnership or corporate entity desiring
to install, erect, operate or maintain a closed circuit television
transmission and distribution system in the City shall apply in writing
to the City Clerk for such license, setting forth evidence of its
financial responsibility and outlining its qualifications and experience
in this field.
The City Clerk shall refer the application to Council and if
Council passes upon such application and approves the same, the City
Clerk shall issue the required license to the applicant as soon as
the applicant has submitted a performance bond of $25,000 which has
been approved by the City Clerk.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
Any license issued shall be nonexclusive except that Council
shall have the right to withhold the granting of more than one license
or any number of additional licenses if it decides that the needs
of the residents of New Castle are adequately served by one licensee
or a limited number of licenses, and additional CATV operations would
be detrimental to the public interest.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
The erection, installation, maintenance and operation of closed
circuit television transmission and distribution systems shall be
conducted only under and in accordance with the following rules, regulations
and requirements.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976; Ord. 7177, passed 9-8-1994]
(a) Local business office. Any person, association, partnership or corporate
entity applying for a license under the provisions of this article
shall be properly registered to do business in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, and if licensed under the provisions of this article
shall maintain a local business office or agent which subscribers
may telephone during regular business hours without incurring added
messages or toll charges, so that CATV maintenance shall be promptly
available.
(b) License fee. Any person, association, partnership or corporate entity
licensed under the provisions of this article shall pay an annual
license fee in the amount of 5% of all gross subscriber revenues received
from subscribers within the limits of the City, payable to the City
Treasurer on or before March 15 of the following year.
(c) Default. If, in the opinion of Council, the licensee should be in
default, or has violated any provisions of this article or other pertinent
City ordinances or the rules and regulations of any appropriate Federal
or State agency, the license may be terminated by resolution of Council
which shall be adopted 10 days following written, certified notice
of the default or violation to the license at its local office or
agent.
(d) Complaint procedure. Should a subscriber have an unresolved complaint
regarding the quality of cable television service, equipment malfunction
or similar matters, the subscriber shall be entitled to file his complaint
with the City Clerk, who in turn shall notify Council of such complaint.
Within 30 days thereafter, a meeting shall be set with a representative
of Council, the licensee and the subscriber to resolve the matter.
The subscriber shall be notified of this procedure upon subscription
to the service.
(e) Renewal of license. Any licensee may file an application to renew
a license in accordance with the Cable Communications Policy Act of
1984, as amended by The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition
Act of 1992.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
(a) Actual construction of the system shall be commenced within 12 calendar
months following the date the license is issued and service to the
residents shall commence within 18 months following the date the license
is issued.
(b) The licensee shall provide the City Engineer with complete and detailed
drawings of the proposed system to be installed prior to commencement
of construction. These drawings shall show the location of all electronic
equipment and cables and shall sufficiently describe the same.
(c) The licensee shall have the right to construct its system within
the right-of-way lines of all City streets, ways or alleys, provided,
however, that no additional poles shall be erected without the prior
consent of Council as to number and location. This right is in conjunction
with the rights of other utility companies to use the streets, ways
and alleys. Any use the licensee makes of the equipment and property
of another utility shall be made in accordance with the terms of a
written contract made with the utility company by the licensee.
(d) All equipment employed in the system shall be erected, constructed
and maintained in a manner that will not endanger the lives and property
of persons, interfere with Municipal improvements or hinder or obstruct
the use of streets, ways, alleys, driveways or public highways.
(e) The cable used in the system shall be capable of simultaneously transmitting
television signals on a minimum of 12 channels.
(f) Construction and maintenance of the system shall be in accordance
with the specifications set forth in the National Electrical Safety
Code prepared by the National Bureau of Standards and all applicable
City ordinances now in effect or hereafter enacted including amendments
thereto.
[Ord. 6831, passed 5-9-1985; Ord. 7177, passed 9-8-1994; Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
(a) The receiving and distribution equipment shall be maintained and
operated so as to provide clear pictures on the receivers of all subscribers
of the same quality as is received at the antenna site providing the
subscriber's receiver is in good working order.
(b) If the licensee expands channel capacity beyond 12 channels, it shall
provide a public, educational and governmental channel as provided
by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of
1992.
(c) The installed system shall operate on a twenty-four hour basis each
day with maintenance personnel available on a standby basis for emergency
repairs. The licensee shall not engage in any repair work to the television
set of the individual consumer. Should the licensee receive a request
for emergency repair work after daylight hours from only one subscriber
within a City block, the licensee shall be justified in believing
that the fault lies in the customer's television set rather than
the CATV system and may delay making the service call until regular
working hours.
(d) Upon request of Council, the licensee shall furnish free installation
and service to any or all of the City fire stations and to the Municipal
Building.
(e) The licensee shall abide by the rules and regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission and the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining
to the transmission of electronic signals.
(f) The licensee shall furnish to basic level subscribers all necessary
converters, switches and adapters, at its own cost.
(g) In the event of a civil or national emergency, the Mayor, or his
designee, shall have the right to preempt the public, educational
and governmental channel at any time for making emergency announcements.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
(a) Required of licensee and subcontractors. The licensee shall at all
times during the existence of its license be covered with sufficient
insurance to protect the City from and against any and all claims,
suits, actions, judgments, costs or losses due to injury or damage
done to persons or property, both real and personal, caused by the
construction, operation or maintenance by the licensee's transmission
and distribution system, and the licensee shall require its subcontractors
to carry similar insurance.
(b) Personal injury liability. The licensee shall carry insurance coverage
of not less than $100,000 on each person, nor less than $300,000 on
each accident resulting in injury or death.
(c) Property liability insurance. The licensee shall carry insurance
coverage of not less than $100,000 for damage done to property, both
personal or real.
(d) Approval by City Solicitor. Insurance policies or certificates of
insurance shall be supplied by the licensee to the City Solicitor
prior to the commencement of the construction of the system for his
approval. When the policies have been approved by the City Solicitor,
they shall not be cancelled or changed without the written approval
of Council.
(e) Workmen's compensation. The licensee shall provide and obtain
Workmen's Compensation Insurance in accordance with the provision
of the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Ord. 6614, passed 1-22-1976]
(a) Inspections. It shall be the duty of the City Engineer, or such officer
as named for the purpose by Council, to make or cause to be made an
annual inspection of all poles, cables and transmission lines which
are erected and maintained by the licensee. The inspecting officer
shall make a report of this inspection to Council during the month
of January and the report shall set forth the condition of the system
and the number of customer connections in use. The City, through its
properly designated officials or agents, shall have the right of access
to and inspection of all books, records and accounts of the licensee.
(b) Audits. The records of the licensee shall be made available to the
City Controller for audit as to the number of accounts maintained
by the licensee.
[Ord. 6630, passed 10-28-1976]
(a) The provisions of this article or any license issued hereunder shall
be subject to any Federal and State legislation enacted or which shall
be enacted, pertaining to the construction, operation and maintenance
of closed circuit television transmission and distribution systems,
commonly known as CATV. Any conflict between the provisions of this
article and the rules and regulations adopted or hereinafter adopted
by the Federal and State governments shall be resolved in favor of
the Federal and State regulations.
(b) Any lawful modification resulting from amendment of Section 76.31
("Franchise Standards") of the Rules and Regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission shall be incorporated into this franchise
as of the date such modification becomes obligatory under FCC regulations,
or in the event no obligatory date is established, within one year
of adoption or at the time of franchise renewal, whichever occurs
first.
Any licensee refusing or neglecting to pay any fees imposed under this article when the same is due shall be punished as provided in Section
101.99 of the Administrative Code for each month the fee remains unpaid and such violation shall be immediate grounds to have the license terminated.