§ 38.5.12. System description and service.

(a)

Compliance. The cable system to be installed by a grantee shall comply in all respects with the requirements set forth in the Cable Act and its regulations, including applicable amendments thereto; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section shall be construed to prohibit a grantee from proposing to comply with more rigid technical performance requirements, in which case such grantee's application shall be incorporated by reference in the franchise and will be binding on such grantee. If the FCC should delete, repeal or amend such requirements, the City hereby reserves the right to amend this Chapter and any franchise agreement to incorporate similar standards, and every franchise granted pursuant to this Chapter shall be subject to such reserved power whether or not expressly so conditioned. Any franchise granted pursuant to this Chapter shall require each grantee to provide, at a minimum, all services and technical capabilities provided by any prior grantee.

(b)

Access. Public access, educational access, local government access and leased access channels shall be provided as follows:

(1)

Each grantee shall have available equipment for local production and presentation of cablecast programs other than automated services and shall permit its use for the production and presentation of public access programs. A grantee shall not enter into any contract, arrangement or lease for use of its cablecast equipment which prevents or inhibits the use of such equipment for a substantial portion of time for public access programming.

(2)

Each grantee shall have control over the content of public access cablecast programs and shall take appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the operating rules described in this Chapter. A grantee's failure to comply with such operating rules shall constitute a violation of this Chapter.

(3)

The public access channel(s) shall be available to residents of the City on a first come, first served, nondiscriminatory basis, consistent with the goal of the maximum availability of access, free of charge. Charges for equipment, production, personnel and production of public access programming shall be reasonable and consistent with the goal of affording users a low cost means of television access. No charges shall be made for the production of live public access programs not exceeding thirty (30) minutes in length, or for the replay of user supplied tapes which are not longer than thirty (30) minutes in length and are in a form compatible with the grantee's playback facilities. However, no person may use the public access channel free of charge more often than once each twenty-four (24) hours. A grantee may, in its discretion, allow use of production facilities for longer than thirty (30) minutes without charge if the grantee determines such to be in the public interest. Notwithstanding the above, this shall not place a limitation upon the reasonable use of the system facilities to produce public access programming. Each grantee shall promote public access channel programs in the program guide where possible and on the community service channel. Each grantee shall adopt operating rules for the public access channel(s) to be filed with the City or its designee prior to the activation of the channel(s) designed to prohibit the presentation of any advertising material designed to promote the sale of commercial products or services (including advertising by or on behalf of candidates for public office), lottery information and obscene or indecent matter, as well as rules requiring first come, nondiscriminatory access, and rules permitting public inspection of a complete record of the names and addresses of all persons or groups requesting access time. Such a record shall be retained for a period of two years.

(4)

The education access channel(s) shall be made available for the use of schools free of charge. Each grantee shall adopt operating rules for the education access channel(s) to be filed with the City or its designee prior to activation of the channel(s) designed to prohibit the presentation of any advertising material designed to promote the sale of commercial products or services (including advertising by or on behalf of candidates for public office), lottery information and obscene or indecent matter, as well as rules requiring first come, nondiscriminatory access, and rules permitting public inspection of a complete record of the names and addresses of all persons or groups requesting access time. Such a record shall be retained for a period of two years.

(5)

The local government access channel(s) shall be made available for the use of the City or such other unit of local government as shall be designated by the City free of charge.

(6)

The leased access channel(s) as specified in a franchise application shall be made available to leased access users. Priority shall be given part-time users on at least one channel.

(7)

After service is available to fifty (50) percent of the homes in the community, three community service access channels shall be provided. At the sole discretion of the City, upon thirty (30) days' written notice, a grantee shall provide additional access channels up to a maximum of ten on the subscriber network; provided, however, that the City shall give due consideration to the effective utilization of the spectrum.

(c)

Studio Facilities and Equipment and Access and Origination.

(1)

Maintenance of Studio Facilities and Equipment. Each grantee shall maintain studio facilities and equipment as set forth in the franchise agreement and for the purposes described. Ownership of such equipment shall remain with the grantee and the maintenance of such facilities and equipment shall be its responsibility.

(2)

Access to City Representatives. Each grantee shall permit reasonable access at reasonable times, including, but not limited to, evenings until 9:00 p.m. and on weekends, at no charge, to the studio and the equipment therein to representatives of the City and its designees. Forty-eight (48) hours' advance notice shall be given to the grantee by the City and its designees for access to the studio, except under emergency conditions.

(3)

Access to Additional Facilities Upon Initial Unavailability. If persons and groups are prevented or significantly delayed in producing programs by the unavailability of studio facilities and equipment, a grantee shall make available such additional facilities and equipment as will reasonably permit the needs of such persons and groups to be met.

(4)

Access to Residents, Corporations and Associations. To the extent that the studio and its equipment is not in use pursuant to Subsection (b) of this Section, a grantee shall give reasonable access at no charge for use of the studio and its equipment to any resident, corporation, association or other entity based within the City area for noncommercial purposes. Forty-eight (48) hours' advance notice shall be given to a grantee by the users for access to the studio. Such use of the system shall be governed by the fairness doctrine of the FCC.

(5)

Utilization of Facilities for Origination, Commercial or Access Cablecasting Outside the City. To the extent that the studio and its equipment is not scheduled for use pursuant to Subsections (b) and (d) of this Section at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of a grantee's proposed use, the studio and equipment may be utilized by such grantee for either its origination cablecasting, commercial cablecasting or for access cablecasting on cable systems outside the City.

(6)

Completed Installation and Operation of Facilities. The studio and its equipment shall be installed and fully operational within six months of the date that one hundred (100) percent of the system is built and activated.

(7)

Local Origination Cablecasting. Each grantee shall furnish subscribers with local origination cablecasting. As a broad standard, each grantee shall attempt to present the following types of programs: local news, public affairs programming, local and regional sports, educational programming and other diverse programming.

(8)

Provision of Discrete Cablecast Quality and Local Origination Programming. During the first two years after service is available to fifty (50) percent of the homes in the community, each grantee shall provide three to five hours per week of discrete cablecast quality local origination programming, upon the request of the City Council.

(9)

News and Information. Alphanumeric origination cablecasting of a news and informational nature shall be provided. Such cablecasting shall include, but not be limited to:

(A)

A cable system program guide, including pay movie preview information and listings of that day's and the next day's origination and access programs on a twenty-four (24) hour per day basis;

(B)

News and sports headlines and local traffic condition information on a twenty-four (24) hour per day basis; and

(C)

Local news, time check and weather information on a twenty-four (24) hour per day basis.

(d)

Twenty-four Hour Operation. The system shall be designed and shall be maintained to provide twenty-four (24) hour continuous operation.

(e)

Uniform and Strong Signals. Subject to the FCC standards the system shall produce, for reception on subscriber's receivers, which are in good working order, a picture which is free from any significant interference or distortion.

(f)

Service to Apartment Buildings.

(1)

Objectives and Findings. The City hereby declares that this Chapter has as one of its principal objectives, the lawful public purpose of rapidly developing and maximizing the educational, community service, cultural and public safety potential of cable television in order to benefit all of the residents of the City. The City further finds that the public interest and necessity suggest that no owner of any multiple-unit residential dwelling, nor his agent or representative, should directly or indirectly prevent any resident of such dwelling from receiving cable communications service installation, maintenance and services from a franchisee operating under a valid franchise issued by the City.

(2)

Negotiation With Owner. In order to provide the opportunity for the residents of any multiple-unit residential dwelling to obtain service from a grantee, such grantee may negotiate an agreement with the owner of that dwelling or, failing agreement, may request that the City intervene to the maximum extent permitted by law in accomplishing its public purpose of enabling the grantee to serve residents of that multiple-unit residential dwelling.

(3)

Additional Charge to Apartment Residents. To the extent permitted by State or Federal law or regulations and notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Chapter, a grantee shall be permitted to charge each resident of a multiple-unit residential dwelling an additional charge, above and beyond the service rate for a single-family dwelling, as specified in the franchise agreement, solely to defray the exact additional per-resident cost to the franchisee of compensating the owner for access to the multiple-unit residential dwelling. Such additional charge shall not be included in the computation of franchise fees due to the City pursuant to this Chapter or the franchise agreement.

(4)

When a Grantee is Not Obligated to Provide Service. Notwithstanding any other language in this Section or elsewhere in this Chapter, a grantee shall not be obligated to provide service to any multiple-unit residential dwelling so long as the owner of that dwelling demands compensation from the grantee in an amount that is unreasonable or imposes financial or other conditions that would, in the grantee's reasonable business judgment, render provision of service to that dwelling economically infeasible.

(5)

Penalizing, Charging or Forfeiting Rights of Tenants Prohibited—Penalty for Section Violation. Neither the owner of any multiple-unit residential dwelling nor his agent or representative shall penalize, charge or surcharge a tenant or resident or forfeit or threaten to forfeit any right of such tenant or resident or discriminate in any way against such tenant or resident who requests or receives cable communications service from a company operating under a valid and existing cable franchise issued by the City. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this Section is subject to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each offense.

(g)

Schedule for Service. Each grantee shall provide service to all subscribers in the City within the timetable established by the corporate authorities.

(h)

Programs/Control. No grantee shall knowingly or negligently permit the transmission of any programming in violation of any Federal, State or local law or ordinance. Except as specifically modified by the franchise ordinance, each grantee shall provide lockout capability to limit the auxiliary service programs available to viewers upon the request of such subscribers. Such lockout shall have the capability of being changed one time at no charge to the subscriber.

(i)

Service Availability.

(1)

Each grantee shall design a cable system in such a manner as to have the capability to pass by every single-family dwelling unit and multiple-dwelling unit building, within the franchise area. Service shall be provided to business locations under the terms and conditions set forth in the franchise agreement. Cable system construction and provision of service shall be nondiscriminatory, and no grantee shall delay or defer service to any part of the franchise area on the grounds of economic preference. Service shall be provided to subscribers in accordance with the schedules specified in the franchise agreement.

(2)

Each grantee shall initially construct or rebuild the cable system so that cable service from the newly constructed or rebuilt system is extended and can be provided within a reasonable time to any dwelling unit that exists within the franchise area.

(3)

After completion of initial construction or rebuild of a cable system, each grantee shall extend the system to and offer the services of the system to potential subscribers within any area of the City, including subdivisions which are hereafter developed or annexed within the corporate limits of the City, where there are at least a total of twenty (20) residential dwelling units with occupancy permits per cable plant mile. Each grantee shall design, construct and operate the system in accordance with the schedules specified in the franchise agreement.

(4)

After service has been established by activating trunk and feeder cables for any area meeting the density requirements as set forth in this Chapter or in the franchise agreement, each grantee shall provide service to any requesting potential dwelling unit subscriber within the area within thirty (30) days from the date of request; provided, such subscriber provides appropriate identification and pays any outstanding balance due on previous accounts and any advance charges required for new service.

(5)

Each grantee shall extend and make cable television service available to any potential subscriber within the City and the remaining service area requesting connection, at the usual and customary rates charged by such grantee. However, there shall be no charge for, unless otherwise required by law, for connections to any institutional user specified in the franchise agreement.

(j)

Public Buildings. Each grantee will provide at least one drop and one outlet at each school building and local unit of government building as set forth in the franchise agreement at no charge. Grantee may charge the school or local unit of government for the actual costs for internal cable wiring within the school or local unit of government building for the installation of the outlets in excess of the number agreed to in the franchise agreement. Costs shall be for actual costs of materials and the grantee's labor. A grantee shall cooperate with the school or unit of local government in determining the design of the installation.

(Ord. 6-2000 § 2 (part))