[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The City (hereinafter referred to as the "municipality") hereby grants to the Marshall County Gas District, its successors and assigns (hereinafter referred to as the "district") the right, privilege, authority, and franchise to acquire, construct, own, maintain, enlarge, extend, improve and operate a gas distribution system in the municipality for the purpose of supplying gas to the municipality and the surrounding territory and the inhabitants thereof, and to use the streets, avenues, alleys and public ways and places in said municipality for such purposes.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The municipality hereby grants to the district the right, privilege, authority and franchise at any time and from time to time during the period covered by this franchise and without any requirement as to permit or fee therefor to construct and extend its mains, pipes, and conduits over or under or along any street, avenue, alley or public way or place in said municipality for the purpose of constructing, repairing, improving, enlarging, or extending said gas distribution system.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The municipality hereby consents and agrees that the franchise hereby granted may be covered by any one or more mortgages or deeds or indentures of trust executed by the district for any one or more of the following purposes, to wit, for the purpose of securing funds with which to acquire, construct, enlarge, extend, improve or operate the gas distribution system in the municipality, or for the purpose of securing funds with which to acquire, construct, enlarge, extend, improve or operate the whole or any part of the gas transmission system of the district, or for the purpose of securing funds with which to acquire, construct, enlarge, extend, improve or operate any other gas distribution system or systems which the district may acquire, construct, enlarge, extend, improve or operate in any other municipality or municipalities or for the purpose of refinancing any bonds or other obligations issued by the district for any one or more of the foregoing purposes (hereinafter referred to as the "mortgage"). The mortgage shall constitute a lien on the franchise granted in Ordinance Number 235 and the franchise may be transferred or assigned subject to the conditions set forth in the mortgage, but such franchise shall not otherwise be transferred or assigned.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The district shall, and by accepting this franchise agrees that it will, construct and operate said gas distribution system and keep it in good repair and operating condition so as adequately to supply the reasonable needs of the municipality and its inhabitants at all times.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The district shall, and by accepting this franchise agrees that it will, upon any excavation in the streets, avenues, alleys, public ways and places of said municipality in the exercise of this franchise, restore the surface and paving at the point of such excavation in substantially the same condition as before the work was done within a reasonable time thereafter and will save the municipality harmless from any liability arising out of any change in the condition of any street, avenue, alley, public way or place by the said district.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The rights, privileges, authorities and franchise hereby granted shall continue in force and effect for a period of 30 years from the effective date of Ordinance Number 235 or until the principal of and interest on any bonds or obligations (including any refunding bonds or obligations) issued by the district for any one or more of the purposes for which the mortgage is executed as set forth in § 28-42 (hereinafter referred to as "bonds of the district") shall have been paid in full, whichever shall be the longer period permitted by law.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
This franchise shall be exclusive and the municipality hereby covenants and agrees not to grant any franchise for a gas plant or system during the term of the franchise hereby granted, insofar as an exclusive franchise now is or may hereafter be authorized or permitted by law to a public corporation such as the district.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The district shall, and by accepting this franchise agrees that it will, on or before the 90th day following the end of each fiscal year of the district, beginning with the fiscal year next following the fiscal year of the district in which the amount accumulated in any debt service reserve fund provided for in the mortgage equals or exceeds the maximum amount required to be accumulated therein and the amount accumulated in any extension and improvement fund provided for in the mortgage equals or exceeds the sum of $250,000, and continuing only so long as sums in such amounts are on deposit in said funds, pay to the municipality, but solely from the remaining revenues as hereinafter defined, a sum equal to that portion of 2% of the rates, charges and fees collected by the district during such fiscal year for gas sold from all of its facilities to all classes of customers, including industrial consumers, that the amount collected by the district during such fiscal year for non-industrial gas sold within the corporate limits of the municipality bears to the total amount collected by the district during such fiscal year for non-industrial gas sold within the corporate limits of all municipalities which are members of the district. In the event the remaining revenues in any fiscal year beginning as aforesaid are insufficient to pay in full the amount payable to the municipality as aforesaid, the amount payable to the municipality for such fiscal year shall be that portion of the remaining revenues that the amount collected by the district during such fiscal year for non-industrial gas sold within the corporate limits of the municipality bears to the total amount collected by the district during such fiscal year for non-industrial gas sold within the corporate limits of all municipalities which are members of the district. The words "non-industrial gas" shall, for the purposes of this section, include gas sold to all classes of customers other than industrial consumers. The words "industrial consumer" mean a consumer who receives gas for industrial use only (i.e., for use in or in connection with any business such as manufacturing, processing or assembling of goods, operation of commercial establishments, utilities or other business or enterprise for profit) in an amount of 200,000 cubic feet or more on any day, or as hereafter otherwise defined in the gas tariff or rate schedule of the supplier or suppliers of gas to the district. The words "remaining revenues" mean the rates, charges and fees collected by the district during a fiscal year for gas sold from all of the district's facilities to all classes of customers, including industrial consumers, after deducting therefrom the following:
(a) 
All expenses paid by the district during such fiscal year for administration, operation, maintenance and repair of all of the facilities of the district, which shall not be less than the amount required to be paid during such fiscal year into any operation and maintenance fund provided for in the mortgage.
(b) 
All sums required for the payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds of the district maturing and coming due during such fiscal year, which shall not be less than the amount required to be paid during such fiscal year, into any bond principal and interest fund provided for in the mortgage.
[Ord. No. 235, 4-16-1953]
The continuance of the franchise granted herein shall not be subject to or conditioned upon the making of the payments to the municipality provided for in § 28-47 or compliance by the district with any other covenant or provision contained in this article, but the obligations to make such payments and to comply with such covenants and provisions are separate and independent and, in the event the district shall fail to make any payment or to comply with any covenant or provision of this article, the municipality shall have its right of action against the district or any member of its board of directors or any officer thereof, to compel such payment or such compliance, but may not revoke or cancel the franchise granted by this article.