This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Cable Television Franchise Ordinance."
Pursuant to § 66.082 of Wis. Stats., this chapter allows the Village of Saukville to grant to a franchise grantee a nonexclusive license to install, maintain and operate a cable television system for the distribution of television signals, frequency-modulated radio signals and closed circuit television programs for a term not to exceed 15 years, provided that the franchise grantee conforms to the conditions, limitations and requirements of this chapter. This chapter may be amended from time to time by the village through the enactment of amendments thereto.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular number and words in the singular number include the plural number.
BOARD The present governing body of the village or any future body constituting the legislative body of the village.
CABLE Coaxial cables, wave guides or other conductors and equipment for providing television service by cable or through its facilities as herein contemplated, and including closed circuit special event programs and educational television.
GRANTEE A person or entity to whom or which a franchise under this chapter is granted by the Board, along with the lawful successors or assigns of such person or entity.
GROSS REVENUES Any revenue, derived directly or indirectly by a grantee, its affiliates, subsidiaries, parents and any persons or entities in which a grantee has a financial interest of 5% or more, from or in connection with the operation of a Saukville cable system, including, but not limited to, basic or extended basic subscriber service monthly fees, pay cable fees, installation and reconnection fees, leased channel fees, converter rentals, enhanced telecommunications services, studio rental, production equipment rental and advertising revenues. The term does not include any taxes on services furnished by a grantee and imposed directly upon any subscriber or used by the village, state or other governmental unit and collected by a grantee on behalf of said governmental unit. The term does include any amounts billed to offset the cost of any franchise fee.
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS Those hours during which most similar businesses in the village are open to serve customers, plus at least one night per week until 8:00 p.m. and at least four hours on the weekend.
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS Those conditions affecting service within the control of the grantee. Those conditions presumed to be outside normal operation conditions include natural disasters, human-caused disasters and civil disturbances, power or telephone outages, and severe or unusual weather conditions where such condition limits the grantee's ability to provide service. Those conditions presumed to be within normal operating conditions include special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods and maintenance, rebuild or upgrade of the cable system.
STREET The surface of and space above and below any public street, road, highway, freeway, lane, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway or drive, now or hereafter existing as such within the village.
SUBSCRIBER Any person or entity legally receiving for any purpose the services of a grantee herein.
VILLAGE The Village of Saukville, County of Ozaukee, State of Wisconsin, in its present incorporated form or in any later recognized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.
All of the rights and privileges and all the obligations, duties and liabilities created by this chapter shall pass to and be binding upon the successors of the village and the successors and assigns of a grantee. The franchise shall not be assigned or transferred by the grantee without the written approval of the village hereunder, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld without a showing of good cause; provided, however, that this section shall not prevent the assignment or pledge of a franchise or system by a grantee as security for debt without such approval; and provided further that transfers or assignments of a franchise between any parent and subsidiary corporation or between entities of which at least 51% of the beneficial ownership is here by the grantee or any parent corporation shall be permitted without the prior approval of the village. The sale, transfer or assignment of a material portion of the tangible assets of a grantee to an unrelated third party shall be considered an assignment subject to the provisions of this section.
A. The parties to the sale or transfer of a franchise shall make a written request to the village for its approval of a sale or transfer of the franchise.
B. The village shall reply in writing within 30 days of the request with a written notification of any information it needs to evaluate the request. Within 30 days of such information being provided, the village shall indicate approval of the request or its determination that a public hearing is necessary.
C. If a public hearing is deemed necessary pursuant to Subsection
B, the village shall conduct such hearing within 30 days of such determination. Notice of any such hearing shall be given at least 14 days prior to the hearing by publishing notice thereof once in a newspaper of general circulation in the area being served by the franchise. The notice shall contain the date, time and place of the hearing and shall briefly state the substance of the action to be considered by the village.
D. Within 60 days after the public hearing, the village shall approve or deny the sale or transfer request and notify the grantee in writing of its decision.
E. The parties to the sale or transfer of a franchise only, without the inclusion of a cable communications systems in which at least substantial construction has commenced, shall establish that the sale or transfer of a franchise only will be in the public interest.
F. The new holder of a sold or transferred franchise shall, within 30 days of the sale or transfer, file with the village a copy of the deed, agreement or other written instrument evidencing such sale, transfer of ownership or control or lease, certified and sworn to as correct by the grantee. The new holder shall within the same period file with the village any and all required bonds, proofs of insurance and certifications, and accept in writing all responsibilities relating to the cable franchise and system.
A franchise granted under this chapter is for the territorial limits of the Village of Saukville. The grantee shall offer to make cable service available to all residents of the franchise territory at the time a new or renewed franchise is issued or thereafter, regardless of density standards.
The cable system shall be operated to comply with or exceed all guidelines and standards set by the FCC for signal quality and leakage. The village reserves the right to test the system and independently measure the signal quality. The system shall comply at all times with the National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection Association.
A grantee shall manage all of its operations in accordance with the policy of totally open books and records vis-a-vis the village. The authorized officers or agents of the village shall have the right to inspect, upon notice, during normal business hours all books, records, maps, plans, financial statements, service complaint logs, performance test results, records of request for service and other like materials of the grantee that relate to the operation of the franchise.
During the construction or substantial rebuild of a cable system, the grantee shall file with the village a performance bond in the amount of $50,000. The bond shall be released when the grantee certifies to the village that the construction or substantial rebuild is complete, and the village accepts such certification as proven.
A franchise granted under this chapter shall be effective upon written acceptance of the franchise being filed with the Clerk of the village. The filing must take place within 30 days of the offer of the franchise being made by the Village Board.
This chapter and a franchise granted hereunder may be amended to incorporate amendments to the statutes, rules and regulations of the federal government as they are promulgated by the federal government. Any provision herein in conflict with or preempted by said rules, regulations or statutes shall be superseded.
A grantee shall at all times keep its cables and other appurtenances used for transmitting signals shielded in such a manner that there will be no interference with signals received by radios or televisions not connected to the grantee's services.
A grantee may promulgate such rules, regulations, terms and conditions governing the conduct of its business as shall be reasonably necessary to enable the grantee to exercise its rights and perform its obligations under the franchise and to assure uninterrupted service to all its subscribers. However, such rules, regulations, terms and conditions shall not be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter or the laws of the state.
By the adoption of this chapter, the village expressly waives all objections it has or may have to the legal rights of the grantee to attach its cables, equipment and transmission lines to the poles of the village, pursuant to an agreement.
The grantee agrees by acceptance of a franchise that it will not at any time set up against the village in any claim for proceeding any condition or term of the franchise as unreasonable, arbitrary or void, or that the village had no power or authority to make such term or condition, but shall be required to accept the validity of the terms and conditions of the franchise in their entirety.
The grantee shall maintain resources sufficient and near enough to the franchise territory to provide the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to comply with this section and other provisions of this chapter.
A. Service standards. The grantee shall render efficient service, make repairs promptly and interrupt service between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. only for good cause and for the shortest possible time. Service may be interrupted between 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 for routine testing, maintenance and repair, except on nights commencing on Saturday and Sunday and on holidays. Scheduled or predictable service interruptions, except for weekly routine maintenance, insofar as possible shall be preceded by notice, which may be provided across the cable system. The interruptions shall occur during periods of minimum use of the system to the extent allowable. The grantee shall maintain a written log or an equivalent capable of access and reproduction of all service interruptions and requests for service, which log shall be available for village inspection during the franchise period.
B. Telephone lines. The grantee shall provide local toll-free or collect call telephone access to its subscribers within the franchise territory. Any calls should be answered by a customer service representative during normal business hours; calls outside this period may be answered by an automated response mechanism, but such calls should be returned by a grantee's representative within 12 hours. The grantee shall provide sufficient phone answering capabilities so that customers are receiving an appropriate level of service as noted in renewal criteria in federal cable law.
[Amended 4-17-2001 by Ord. No. 565]
C. Local office. The grantee shall provide a public business and service office, located within or near the village and convenient to subscribers, which shall be open during normal business hours. The office shall, at a minimum, be able to accept and process subscriber payments, service requests and customer complaints.
D. Installation. The grantee shall complete requests for subscriber installations within seven business days of order placement when the installation is within 150 feet of the existing cable system. Installation requests required to be honored under this chapter beyond the one-hundred-fifty-foot standard must be completed within 14 days. If the grantee fails to meet these standards, the grantee shall provide the subscriber with a free month of the requested service. The grantee may request the village toll these periods for reasonable circumstances beyond its control.
E. Repair standards. The grantee shall maintain a repair force capable, under normal operating circumstances, of responding to service interruption and degradation complaints made during Normal Business Hours within four hours. For complaints made outside normal business hours, the grantee must respond within 16 hours. For the purpose of this subsection, "response" shall mean at a minimum contacting the subscriber by phone or in person. Where a grantee misses either of these deadlines, the grantee must provide the subscriber with one month's free service. The grantee may request the village toll the repair period for reasonable circumstances beyond its control.
F. Service call scheduling. When the grantee needs to arrange a service appointment at a subscriber's location, the grantee must offer the subscriber a service window not to exceed four hours in duration. The grantee may not cancel a service window without the subscriber's consent. Where a grantee misses a service window, the grantee must provide the subscriber with one month's free service. The grantee may request the village toll the service call period for reasonable circumstances beyond its control.
G. Service interruptions and significant degradation. When the grantee has failed to provide a subscriber with appropriate service due to service outage or significant audio or video degradation not due to the subscriber's equipment or action, the grantee must notify the subscriber that the subscriber may request a rebate of any fees paid for the affected service(s) under the following schedule, and the grantee must provide such rebates. For the purposes of this section, the outage or degradation period shall begin when the subscriber provides notice to the grantee of the outage or degradation. For the purpose of this section, any complaints of outage or degradation by a subscriber within any month shall be cumulative. The grantee may request the village waive or modify the rebate provisions for reasonable circumstances beyond its control.
(1) For periods at least four hours long but under 24 hours, a rebate of 1/30 of the monthly fee for affected services for each instance.
(2) For periods of at least 24 hours, a rebate of 1/10 of the monthly fee for affected services for each twenty-four-hour period or portion thereof.
For the violation of any of the following provisions of this franchise, penalties shall be as follows and the village may determine the amount of the fine for other violations which are not specified in a sum not to exceed $500. For each violation, with each day constituting a separate violation.
A. Failure to furnish, maintain or offer all cable services to any potential subscriber within the village upon order of the village: $200 per day, per violation, for each day that such failure occurs or continues.
B. Failure to obtain or file evidence of required insurance, construction bond, performance bond or other required financial security: $200 per day, per violation, for each day such failure occurs or continues.
C. Failure to provide access to data, documents, records or reports to the village as required: $200 per day, per violation, for each day such failure occurs or continues.
D. Failure to comply with applicable construction, operation or maintenance standards: $200 per day, per violation.
E. Failure to comply with a rate decision or refund order: $200 per day, per violation, for each day such a violation occurs or continues. Grantor may impose any or all of the above enumerated measures against the grantee, which shall be in addition to any and all other legal or equitable remedies it has under the franchise or under any applicable law.
F. Any violations for noncompliance with the customer service standards of §
79-28: $200 per day for each day, or part thereof, that such noncompliance continues.
G. Any other violations of this franchise agreement to be determined by the grantor in a public hearing but not specifically noted in this section: not exceed $500 per day, per violation.