No franchise relating to any street, alley or public place of the said city shall be granted except upon the vote of the registered electors, and the question of its being granted shall be submitted to such vote upon deposit with the city manager of the expense (to be determined by said city manager) of such submission by the applicant for said franchise, and no such franchise shall be granted unless a majority of such electors voting thereon vote in favor thereof.
All contracts for service between the city and the owner or manager of any such franchise shall be made by ordinance, the terms of which shall be agreed to in writing by said owner or manager prior to the passage of such ordinance. No contract for service shall be made by the city for a longer period than two years unless such contract be submitted to a vote of the registered electors of the city, and approved by a majority of those voting on said question.
All franchises or privileges hereafter granted for the use of streets, alleys, avenues, or other public property or right-of-way, shall state the bounds of the district or districts in which it shall be exercised; and no franchise or privilege shall hereafter be granted by the city in general terms or to apply to the city generally.
All power to regulate the rates, rentals and charges for service by public utility corporations or any other franchisee or user of any public property, streets, alleys and rights-of-way is hereby reserved to the people to be exercised by them by ordinance of the council, or in the manner herein provided for initiating or referring an ordinance. Any right of regulation shall further include the right to require uniform, convenient, and adequate service to the public and reasonable extensions of such service, works and facilities. The granting of a franchise or other permission to use public property shall not be deemed to confer any right to include in the charge for service any return upon the value of the franchise or grant of permission.
No franchise, right, privilege, or license shall be considered as granted by any ordinance except when granted therein in plain and unambiguous terms, and any and every ambiguity therein shall be construed in favor of the city and against the claimant under said ordinance.
Every ordinance granting any franchise shall prohibit the issuing of any stock on account thereof by any corporation holding or doing business thereunder.
The city shall have the right to license or tax street cars, telephones, gas meters, electric meters, water meters, or any other similar device for measuring service; also telephone, telegraph, electric light, and power poles, subways and wires. The said license or tax shall be exclusive of and in addition to all other lawful taxes upon the property of the holder thereof.
The council shall, by ordinance, require under proper penalties, any railroad company, whether steam or electric, to elevate or lower any of its tracks running over, along, or across any of the streets or alleys of the city, whenever in the opinion of the council the public safety or convenience requires.
The grant of every franchise or privilege shall be subject to the right of the city, whether in terms reserved or not, to make any regulations for the safety, welfare, and accommodation of the public, including among other things, the right to require proper and adequate extensions of the service of such grant, the right to require any or all wires, cables, conduits, and other like appliances, to be placed under ground, and the right to protect the public from danger or inconvenience in the operation of any work or business authorized by the grant of the franchise.
Every franchise, right or privilege which has been, or which may hereafter be granted, conveying any right, permission or privilege to the use of the water belonging to the city, or to its water system, shall always be subject to the most comprehensive oversight, management, and control in every particular by the city; and such control is retained by the city in order that nothing shall ever be done by any grantee or assignee of any such franchise, right or privilege which shall in any way interfere with the successful operation of the waterworks of the city, or which shall divert, impair, or render the same inadequate for the complete performance of the trust for the people under which such waterworks are held by the city, or which shall tend so to do.
No exclusive franchise shall ever be granted, and no franchise shall be renewed before one year prior to its expiration.
No franchise granted by the city shall ever be leased, assigned, or otherwise alienated without the express consent of the city, and no dealing with the lessee or assignee on the part of the city to require the performance of any act or payment of any compensation by the lessee or assignee, shall be deemed to operate as such consent. Any assignment or sale of such franchise to any foreign corporation shall operate as a forfeiture to the city of such franchise.
No amendment, renewal, extension or enlargement of any franchise, or grant of rights or powers previously or heretofore granted to any corporation, persons, or association of persons, shall be made except in the manner and subject to all conditions provided in this article for the making of original grants and franchises, except that renewal of any cable television franchise shall not be subject to a vote of the registered electors, but shall be made in accordance with applicable federal law. The city shall require as a condition of any amendment, alteration, or enlargement of a franchise or grant, unless otherwise expressly determined by a majority vote of the registered electors of the city, that the person, association, or corporation owning the original franchise or grant, shall, as a prior condition to, and in consideration for such amendment, alteration, or enlargement, covenant and agree, as a part thereof, that such original franchise shall be brought within all the conditions provided in this article for the exercise and enjoyment of franchises hereafter granted, including the right of the city to purchase the plant and physical property, whether within or without the city limits, or both, at a fair valuation, which valuation shall not include any franchise value, or any earning power of such property. (Approved by the voters at a regular election held 4-2-19.)
The city may, by ordinance, require any person or corporation holding a franchise from the city for any public utility, to allow the use of any of its poles, tracks, wires, conduits or electric current by any other person or corporation to which the city shall grant a franchise, upon the payment of a reasonable rental therefor; and any franchise or right which may hereafter be granted to any person or corporation to operate a street railway, or other public service, within the city or its suburbs, shall be subject to the condition that the city shall have the right to grant to any other person or corporation desiring to build or operate a street railway, interurban railway, or other public service, within or into the city, the right to operate its cars over the tracks of said street railway, or to utilize its poles, wires, conduits, or electric current, insofar as may be necessary to enter the city and to reach any section thereof; provided, that the person or corporation desiring to operate its cars over the lines of said street railway, or to use such other public service, shall first agree in writing with the owner thereof to pay it a reasonable compensation for such operation or use. And if the person or corporation desiring to use the same cannot agree with said owner as to said compensation, within sixty days from offering in writing to do so, and as to terms and conditions for such use, then the council shall, by resolution, after a fair hearing to the parties concerned, fix the terms and conditions of such use and compensation to be paid therefor, which award of the council when so made, shall be final and binding on the parties concerned.
The city shall maintain general supervision and police control over all public utility companies insofar as they are subject to municipal control. It shall cause to be instituted such actions or proceedings as may be necessary to prosecute public utility companies for violations of law.
It shall require every person or corporation operating under a franchise or grant from the city, to submit to the council within sixty days after the first day of January of each year, an annual report verified by the oath of the president, the treasurer, or the general manager thereof.
Such reports shall be in the form, contain such detailed information, and cover the period prescribed by the council, or by ordinance; and the council shall have the power, either through its members or by experts or employees duly authorized by it, to examine the books and affairs of any such person, persons or corporation, and to compel the production before them of books and papers pertaining to such report or other matters. Any such person, persons, or corporations which shall fail to make any such report, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars and an additional penalty of one hundred dollars for each and every day thereafter, during which he shall fail to file such report, to be sued for and recovered in any court of record having jurisdiction.
The city, when owning any public utility, shall keep the books of accounts for such public utility, and in such a manner as to show the true and complete financial result of such city ownership, or ownership and operation, as the case may be. Such accounts shall be so kept as to show the actual cost to the city of the public utility owned; all cost of maintenance, extension and improvement, all operating expenses of every description, in case of such city operation; if water or other service shall be furnished for the use of any department of the city without charge, the accounts shall show, as nearly as possible, the value of such service, such accounts shall also show reasonable allowance for interest, depreciation, and insurance, and also estimates of the amount of taxes that would be chargeable against such property if owned by a private corporation.
No franchise, lease or right to use the streets or the public places, or property of the city, shall be granted by the city, except as in this Charter provided, for a longer period than twenty-five years; provided however, the City may lease, for a term not to exceed 99 years, all or a portion(s) of property in or adjacent to the Las Colonias Business Park some of which is North of the Riverside Parkway including the property at 1441 Winters Avenue, all as described in Ordinance No. 4874. The City may lease, for a term not to exceed 99 years, approximately 1.1169 acres of property located at 599/601 Struthers Avenue, Grand Junction, Colorado in or near the Las Colonias Park to Colorado Discover Ability, all as described in and for the purposes as stated in Ordinance No. 5116. The City may, by and with adoption of an ordinance, lease certain City property, now owned or after acquired, for affordable housing and/or workforce housing, as those terms may be defined by the City Council from time to time, for a term not to exceed ninety-nine years. Every grant of a franchise shall fix the amount and manner of the payment of the compensation to be paid by the grantee, for the use of the same, and no other compensation of any kind shall be exacted for such use during the life of the franchise, but this provision shall not exempt the grantee from any lawful taxation upon his or its property, nor from any licenses, charges, or impositions not levied on account of such use. (Last approved by the voters at a regular election held 11-7-23.)
(a) 
Every grant, extension, or renewal of a franchise or right shall provide that the city may upon the payment therefor of its fair valuation, purchase, and take over the property and plant of the grantee in whole or in part; such valuation shall be made as provided in the grant, but shall not include any value of the franchise or right of way through the streets, or any earning power of such property. The valuation may include, as part of the cost of the plant, interest on actual investment during the period of construction, and prior to operation. Such grant may provide that if the purchase is made within five years of the time when the franchise is granted, the city shall pay an additional sum or bonus of not to exceed ten per centum (10%) on the actual value of the tangible property, exclusive of the franchise value, which additional sum or bonus shall be reduced proportionately from such five-year period to the end of the franchise period when no bonus shall be given.
The procedure to effect such purchase shall be as follows:
When the council shall, by resolution, direct that the mayor shall ascertain whether any such property or part thereof, should be acquired by the city, or in the absence of such action of the council, when a petition subscribed by registered electors of the city, equal in number to at least ten per centum (10%) of the last preceding vote cast in the city for all candidates for Governor of the State of Colorado requesting that the mayor shall ascertain whether any such property or part thereof, should be acquired by the city, shall be filed with the clerk, the mayor shall forthwith carefully investigate said property and report to the council--
(1) 
At what probable cost said property may be acquired;
(2) 
What, if any, probable additional outlays would be necessary to operate the same;
(3) 
Whether, if acquired, it could be operated by city at a profit or advantage in quality or cost of service, stating wherein such profit or advantage consists;
(4) 
Whether, if granted, it could be paid out of its net earnings, and, if so, within what time; and
(5) 
Such other information touching the same as he shall have acquired.
Such report shall be made in writing, shall include a statement of facts in relation thereto with such particularity as will enable the council to judge the correctness of his findings and immediately after submission to the council, shall be filed with the city clerk, recorded in the public utility record, and published once in each of two daily newspapers of general circulation published in the city, or printed and distributed in pamphlet form, as the council may determine.
If a petition subscribed by registered electors of the city, equal in number to at least ten per centum (10%) of the last preceding vote cast in the city for all candidates for Governor of the State of Colorado, requesting that the question whether or not the city shall acquire said property, shall be submitted to a vote of the people, shall within sixty days after the filing of said report be filed with the clerk, the council shall provide by ordinance for the submission of the question to a vote of the registered electors.
(b) 
Every grant reserving to the city the right to acquire the plant as well as the property, if any, of the grantee situated in, on, above, or under the public places of the city, or elsewhere, used in connection therewith, shall in terms specify the method of arriving at the valuation therein provided for, and shall further provide that upon the payment by the city of such valuation, the plant and property so valued, purchased and paid for, shall become the property of the city by virtue of the grant and payment thereunder, and without the execution of any instrument of conveyance and every such grant shall make adequate provision by way of forfeiture of the grant, or otherwise, for the effectual securing of efficient service and for the continued maintenance of the property in good order and repair and its continuous use throughout the entire term of the grant. The grant may also provide that in case such reserved right to operate or to take over such plant or property is not exercised by the city, and it shall, prior to payment for the same secure a bid for the property, and grant a new franchise for the same service or utility, as provided in Paragraph c of this section, or grant the right to another person or corporation to operate said utility, so occupied and used by its grantor, under the former grant, that the title to and possession of the plant and property so taken away be transferred directly to the new grantee upon the terms upon which the city may have purchased it.
(c) 
Whenever any plant or property shall become the property of the City of Grand Junction, the city shall have the option at any time, then or thereafter, either to operate the same on its own account, or by ordinance to lease the same or any part thereof, together with the franchise or right to use the streets or other public property in connection therewith, for periods not exceeding twenty-five years, under such rules and regulations as it may prescribe, or by ordinance to sell the same; provided, however, that no such ordinance shall be adopted except by a majority vote of the registered electors of the city.
The enumeration and specification of particular matters in this charter which must be included in every franchise or grant, shall never be construed as impairing the right of the city to insert in such franchise or grant, such other and further conditions, covenants, terms, restrictions, limitations, burdens, taxes, assessments, rates, fares, rentals, charges, control, forfeiture, or any other provisions whatever, as the city shall deem proper to protect the interests of the people.
The Council may grant a permit at any time, in or upon any street, alley, or public place, provided such permit may be revocable by the Council at its pleasure at any time, whether such right to revoke be expressly reserved in such permit or not; provided, however, that no such permit shall be granted for the use of any such street, alley or other public place for the installation or maintenance of a cable system TV, otherwise known as C.A.T.V. system, until the granting of such permit shall be approved by a majority vote of the registered electors of the City.