This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Cable Television Franchise Enabling Ordinance."
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases and words and their derivations shall have the meanings specified herein:
ADDITIONAL SERVICE A subscriber service provided by the grantee for which a special charge is made based on program or service content, time or spectrum space usage.
AFFILIATE Any carrier or entity which owns or controls another carrier or utility or is in direct or indirect common ownership or control with or is owned or controlled by another carrier or entity.
AGC (AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL) An electronic circuit which automatically increases or decreases, within its design range, the gain of one or more amplifiers in order to maintain a predetermined output level. It is one method of attaining ALC.
ALC (AUTOMATIC LEVEL CONTROL) An electronic circuit which automatically increases or decreases signal to maintain a predetermined value. AGC is one method of achieving ALC.
ANNUAL GROSS SUBSCRIBER REVENUES All revenues received by the grantee in connection with the operation of the cable television network in the city, and shall include revenues from all sources. That portion of revenues, including copyright fees and program and information acquisition charges, for which the grantee, its affiliates or subsidiaries act only as collection and forwarding agents shall not be subject to the franchise fee.
ASC (AUTOMATIC SLOPE CONTROL) An electronic circuit that compensates for differing characteristics in the cable and in amplifiers as they pass a wide range of channel frequencies under a variety of outdoor temperature conditions.
BASIC SERVICE That group of signals which offers the subscriber the lowest level of participation, sometimes known as "first tier service."
BOARD The Joint City of Hudson - Village of North Hudson Cable Television Board.
BTN (BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK) Any network of cables, microwave and lightwave transmission equipment and electrical or electronic apparatus, including cable televisions systems, used for the purpose of transmission of impulses of television, radio, data and other intelligences, either analog or digital, for sale or use by the inhabitants of the city. For the purposes of this chapter, "cable television," "cable television network," "cable television service" and "cable television system" shall be understood to have the same meaning as "broadband telecommunications network" unless the context requires otherwise.
BTN CHANNEL CAPACITY The greatest total number of standard television channels on which separate programming may be delivered downstream simultaneously to every subscriber in the network. The network may have additional capacity for either, or both, downstream and upstream specialized or discreet purposes, provided that the technical performance specified shall not be materially degraded thereby.
CABLE TELEVISION A method of confining the transmission path of multiple television channels and other broadband telecommunications network services by way of a coaxial or fiber optic cable for delivery to subscriber terminals.
[Amended by Ord. No. 22-83]
CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL A frequency band six megahertz in width within which a standard television broadcast signal is delivered to a subscriber terminal (except that Class III and Class IV cable channels as defined by the Federal Communications Commission may be either wider or narrower than this standard).
CHANNEL FREQUENCY RESPONSE The relationship, within a cable television channel, as measured at a subscriber terminal, between amplitude and frequency of a constant amplitude signal that is concurrently being introduced at the head end at all specified frequencies within each channel.
CITY The City of Hudson, Wisconsin.
CLASS I CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL A signaling path provided by a cable television system to relay to subscriber terminals television broadcast programs that are received off the air or are obtained by lightwave, microwave or satellite or by direct connection to a television station.
CLASS II CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL A signaling path provided by a cable television system to deliver to subscriber terminals television signals that are intended for reception by a television receiver without the use of any decoding device and which signals are not involved in a broadcast transmission path.
CLASS III CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL A signaling path provided by a cable television system to deliver to subscriber terminals signals that are intended for reception by equipment other than a television broadcast receiver or by a television broadcast receiver only when used with decoding equipment.
CLASS IV CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL A signaling path provided by a cable television system to transmit signals of any type from a subscriber terminal to another point in the cable television system.
COMMENCE OPERATION Operation will be considered to have commenced when sufficient distribution facilities have been installed and the grantee has offered full network services to at least 25% of the dwelling units.
CONVERTER An electronic device which changes the frequencies or channel numbers of designated input signals and outputs them at a new frequency or channel number.
COUNCIL The Common Council of the City of Hudson.
DATA GRADE Encoded transmissions primarily digital in nature.
DECIBEL (DB) The standard unit for expressing the relative level of a signal in the network above or below a power corresponding to a root mean square (RMS) voltage of one millivolt (0.001 volt) across 75 ohms; also the relative level of coherent and noncoherent interference signals within a channel compared to the level of the desired signal in that same channel.
DECODER An electronic device which restores information on one or more signals to standard conditions for use by conventional subscriber receivers.
DISCRETE CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL A signaling path provided by a cable television system to transmit signals of any type to specified subscriber terminals within the cable television system.
DOWNSTREAM The direction of transmission over the BTN from the head end or hub or a local distribution center to subscriber terminals.
DUAL CABLE SYSTEM A broadband telecommunications network design that includes duplication of all trunk lines, distribution cables and associated electronic equipment required to deliver cable television channels to subscriber terminals.
FRANCHISE PAYMENT All charges imposed for a franchise, including one-time reimbursement of costs incurred by the city in the award of the franchise.
FULL NETWORK SERVICE All basic service, tiers of services and additional services offered by the grantee.
GRANTEE Coaxial Associates of St. Croix Limited Partnership and all persons having any rights, duties or obligations under the franchise.
[Amended by Ord. No. 3-87]
HEAD END The land, electronic processing equipment, antennas, tower, building and other appurtenances located at the starting point of a broadband telecommunications network.
HUB CONFIGURATION A BTN design wherein all downstream transmission paths originate from a single location and all upstream transmission paths return to this same location.
INFORMATION SERVICE Offering the capability of generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, retrieving or utilizing information which may be conveyed via telecommunications.
LIGHTWAVE COMMUNICATIONS The use of electromagnetic radiation wavelengths shorter than radio waves, usually in the infrared or visible region but shall include ultraviolet wavelengths, for the purpose of transmitting information such as audio, data and television.
LIMITED SERVICE A subscriber option allowing the subscriber to subscribe to less than full network service.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER A facility remote from but connected to the hub which distributes signals from the hub to a specified area in the BTN.
MICROWAVE Those frequencies in the portion of the UHF (ultra high frequency) band above one billion cycles per second (one gigahertz) and all of the SHF (super high frequency) band which range from three to 30 gigahertz, in addition to the EHF (extremely high frequency) band from 30 to 300 gigahertz.
MULTIHUB CONFIGURATION A BTN design wherein multiple hubs are used to distribute BTN signals to subscribers and where the hubs are all connected to one or more head ends by coaxial cable, lightwave or microwave communication paths.
NETWORK NOISE That combination of undesired and fluctuating disturbances which degrade the reproduction of the desired signals and which are due to modulation processes, nonlinear functions and thermal and other noise-producing effects. Network noise is specified in terms of its RMS voltage or its mean power level relative to each standard cable television channel.
OFFERING The document entitled "Cable Communications Franchise Proposal" submitted by the grantee in connection with the application for an award of a cable television franchise provided for herein and that certain document dated August 29, 1986, entitled "Request For Information" and related written information and documentation in response to the request for information signed by the grantee, which documents are on file with the City Clerk of the City of Hudson.
[Amended by Ord. No. 3-87]
PERSON An individual, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust or corporation.
PHYSICAL MILE OF PLANT Messenger strand as measured from pole to pole without taking into consideration sag or downguys and, for buried plant, actual trench feet.
RESALE The reoffering, with or without adding value, by any person for a profit of any telecommunications service obtained from a carrier.
RMS (ROOT MEAN SQUARE) The effective value of an alternating current or voltage waveform which would be numerically equal in energy to a constant direct current or voltage.
SERVICE AREA The geographical area within the corporate limits of the city, including areas which the city may annex.
STREET All streets, highways, alleys, sidewalks, easements or other public ways in the city which have been or may hereafter be dedicated and open to public use.
STUDIO The land, electronic processing equipment, towers, building, cameras, lights and other appurtenances normally associated with and located at the grantee's local origination and/or public access points of a broadband telecommunications network, excluding the head end.
SUBSCRIBER Any person receiving basic service, limited service or additional service from the grantee under the schedule of charges filed with and approved by the city.
SUBSCRIBER TERMINAL The broadband telecommunications network's 75 ohm cable terminal to which the subscriber's equipment is connected.
SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETED The system will be considered substantially completed when sufficient distribution facilities have been installed so as to permit the offering of full network service to at least 90% of the dwelling units in the service area to which access is legally and reasonably available.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS The transfer of information by means of electromagnetic or optical transmission in either the downstream or the upstream direction through any portion of the BTN.
TERMINAL ISOLATION The attenuation, at any subscriber terminal, between that terminal and the nearest system source of signals to any other subscriber.
TIER A group of signals, such as television channel and/or FM band signals, for which a specific monthly charge is made. "Basic service" and "first tier service" are sometimes used interchangeably. An additional tier of channels will usually require the use of a converter connected between the subscriber terminal and the television set or a coaxial switch to select signals from one of a total of two or more cables.
UPSTREAM The direction of transmission over the BTN from a subscriber terminal toward the network's head end, hub or local distribution center.
VIDEO GRADE Transmission primarily analog in nature, including the picture components of a television broadcast.
VILLAGE The Village of North Hudson.
VISUAL SIGNAL LEVEL The RMS voltage produced by the visual signal during the transmission of synchronizing pulses.
Applications for a franchise to serve the village and the city shall be filed with the City Clerk's office and shall contain the following written information and provisions:
A. Form fee. Each applicant shall pay a nonrefundable form fee to the Board of $300, which shall be payable when the applicant requests the necessary application forms.
B. Name and address of applicant. The name and business address of the applicant, telephone number, date of application and signature of the applicant or appropriate corporate officer(s).
C. Description of proposed operation. A general description of the applicant's proposed operation, including but not limited to business hours, operating staff, maintenance beyond that required in this chapter, management and marketing staff complement and procedures and rules of operation for public access.
D. Signal carriage. A statement of the television and radio services to be provided, including off-the-air, interconnect, microwave relay, satellite relay pay television programming and locally originated signals; the proposed division of these channels into limited service, basic service and additional services; and which will be contained in each of the tiers or groups of services to be provided.
E. Special services. A statement setting forth a description of the automated and/or microprocessor services proposed, as well as a description of two-way or upstream services proposed and a description of production facilities to be made available by the grantee for the public and educational access channels required to be made available by provisions of this chapter and/or the Federal Communications Commission.
F. Programming assistance. A statement establishing any voluntary additional funding, facilities, equipment or personnel beyond those required elsewhere to be designated to effect and promote local programming development. It is understood that the foregoing will be made available to all on a fair and nondiscriminatory basis and may be used by the grantee as well. Such funding and services will be contingent upon a special showing, where required, that the proposed uses are consistent with the cable television regulatory program of the Federal Communications Commission.
G. Schedule of charges. A statement of the applicant's proposed schedule of charges as set forth by §
114-17 hereunder.
H. Corporate organization. A statement detailing the corporate organization of the applicant, if any, including the names, addresses and telephone numbers of its officers and directors and the number of shares held by each officer and director.
I. Stockholders. A statement identifying the number of authorized and outstanding shares of the applicant's stock, including a current list of the names, current addresses and phone numbers of each of its shareholders holding 5% or more of the applicant's outstanding stock.
J. Intracompany relationships. A statement describing all intracompany relationships of the applicant, including parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.
K. Agreements and understandings. A statement setting forth all agreements and understandings, whether written or oral, existing between the applicant and any other person, firm, group or corporation with respect to any franchise awarded hereunder and the conduct of the operation thereof existing at the time of the proposal submittal.
L. Financial statement. If the applicant is an operating business or recently formed subsidiary of an operating business, audited financial statements for the two previous fiscal years of the business or parent organization, as applicable. If the applicant is a business with less than two years' operation, it shall submit a Dunn and Bradstreet Report. If the applicant is a sole proprietorship, is shall submit copies of the United States individual income tax return (IRS Form 1040) for the two previous fiscal years, along with a notarized statement detailing assets, liabilities and net worth of the applicant.
M. Financial projection. A ten-year operations pro forma which shall include the initial and continuing plant investment, annual profit and loss statements detailing income and expenses, annual balance sheets and annual levels of subscriber penetration. Costs and revenues anticipated, if any, for voluntary services shall, if presented, be incorporated in the pro forma as required in this chapter but shall be separately identified in the pro forma.
N. Financial support. Suitable written evidence from a recognized financing institution, addressed both to the applicant and to the city, advising that the applicant's financial ability and planned operation have been analyzed by the institution and that the financing institution is prepared to make the required funds available to the applicant if it is awarded a franchise. If the planned operation is to be internally financed, a Board resolution shall be supplied authorizing the obtainment and expenditure of such funds as are required to construct, install and operate the cable television/broadband telecommunications network contemplated hereunder.
O. Technical description. A technical description of the type of system proposed by the applicant, including but not limited to system configuration (i.e., hub, dual cable, shadow cable and trunk amplifier spacing), system channel capacity and two-way capability.
P. Technical statement. A statement from the applicant's senior technical staff member or consultant advising that the applicant's planned network and operations meet the requirements of this chapter and the technical standards and requirements of the Federal Communications Commission.
Q. Existing franchises. A statement of existing franchises held by the applicant, indicating when the franchises were issued and when the systems were constructed and the present state and the system in each governmental unit, together with the name and address and phone number of a responsible governmental official knowledgeable of the applicant and of the system performance in each such case.
R. Convictions. A statement as to whether the applicant or any of its officers or holders of 5% or more of its voting stock has in the past 10 years been convicted of or has charges pending for any crime, other than a routine traffic offense, and the disposition of each such case.
S. Operating experience. A statement detailing the prior cable television experience of the applicant, including that of the applicant's officers, management and staff to be associated with the proposed operation in Hudson.
T. Extension policy. A statement detailing the applicant's proposed policy relating to the extension of subscriber services to areas not initially served and to areas subsequently annexed by the city.
U. Franchise renewal information. When an application is for renewal of a franchise, the proposal must include, in addition to the information required in Subsections
A through
T above:
(1) A summary of the technical, financial and programming history of the network since the granting of the original franchise.
(2) A statement of timetable that outlines all proposed changes, expansion or improvements in the system as to services, programming or technical specifications during the forthcoming five-year period.
V. Additional requirements. The application for a franchise shall respond specifically, and in sequence, to Subsections
A through
T of this section, and the above responses shall be bound separately from any additional information preferred by the applicant. Twenty-five copies of the application shall be supplied to the city. Supplementary, additional or other information that the applicant deems reasonable for consideration may be submitted at the same time as its application but must be separately bound and submitted in the above number of copies. The city may, at its discretion, consider such additional information as part of the application.
W. Supplementation to application. The city reserves the right to require such supplementary, additional or other information that the city deems reasonably necessary for its determinations. Such modifications, deletions, additions or amendments to the application shall be considered only if specifically requested by the city.
The grantee shall provide, upon request, within the city one connection and monthly service for basic service to such public, parochial and nonprofit private schools, city buildings and agency locations as the city may hereafter designate. The rates for this installation and monthly service shall be designated by each applicant in its proposal. The city reserves the right, at its expense, to extend service to as many areas within such schools, buildings and agencies as it deems desirable without payment of any additional fee to the grantee. All such extensions, however, shall be accomplished in such a way so as not to interfere with the operation of the cable television broadband telecommunications network.
The grantee shall assume the cost of publication of the franchise ordinance as such publication is required by law. A bill for the publication costs shall be presented to the grantee by the city upon the grantee's filing of acceptance and shall be paid at that time.
Should any ordinance or part thereof be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter, this chapter shall prevail insofar as it applies to each cable television broadband telecommunications network.
[Amended by Ord. No. 22-83]
A. Security fund.
(1) Within 30 days after the effective date of this chapter, the grantee shall deposit with the Finance Officer of the city and maintain on deposit through the terms of the franchise the sum of $5,000 in cash.
(2) If the grantee fails to pay the city any compensation within the time fixed herein or fails, after 20 days' notice, to pay to the city any taxes due or unpaid or fails to repay to the city, within 20 days, any damages, costs or expenses which the city shall be compelled to pay by reason of any act or default of the grantee in connection with this chapter which the city reasonably determines can be remedied by an expenditure of the security, the Finance Officer of the city may immediately withdraw the amount thereof from the security fund. Upon such withdrawal, the Finance Officer shall notify the grantee of the amount and date thereof, and the grantee shall have 30 days in which to replace the amount withdrawn.
(3) The cash deposit furnished by the grantee pursuant hereto shall become the property of the city if the franchise is revoked by reason of a default of the grantee. The cash deposit shall be retained by the city and returned to the grantee at the expiration of the franchise, provided that there is no outstanding obligation on the part of the grantee to the city. Any interest which accumulates on the cash deposit shall become the property of the grantee as it accrues, and the grantee shall have the option of withdrawing the interest or leaving it on deposit as the grantee deems necessary. The City Clerk is to set up the account with the city and deposit the interest in the grantee's account.
B. Penalties from security fund. In addition to recovery of any moneys owed by the grantee to the city or damages or any other remedies as a result of any acts or omissions by the grantee pursuant to this chapter, the city may charge to and collect from the security fund the following penalties for failure to:
(1) Comply with the terms of §
114-20 of this chapter. The penalty shall be $100 for each day such failure occurs or continues.
(2) Provide data, documents, reports or information in accordance with §
114-13 of this chapter. The penalty shall be $25 for each day such failure occurs or continues.
(3) Comply with any of the provisions of this chapter for which a penalty is not otherwise specifically provided pursuant to the section. The penalty shall be $25 for each day that such failure occurs or continues.
(4) Meet conditions set forth in city permits. The penalty shall be $25 for each day such failure continues.
(5) Comply with construction, operation or maintenance standards set forth in this chapter. The penalty shall be $100 for each day that such failure occurs or continues.
(6) Provide the service the grantee has proposed, including but not limited to the implementation and the utilization of the access channels and the making available for use of the equipment and other facilities to the public. The penalty shall be $100 for each day that such failure occurs or continues.
This chapter is effective upon adoption of a similar ordinance by the Village of North Hudson. To authorize, issue and regulate the joint cable television franchise with the Village of North Hudson, the city may enter into necessary agreements with the Village of North Hudson, under the authority of W.S.A. s. 66.30.