HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 1862
ORDINANCE NO. 1862
AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A FRANCHISE TO SAMMONS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.,
A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ITS SUCCESSORS OR ASSIGNS, TO OWN AND
OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM IN THE CITY OF NORTH
RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, SETTING FORTH CONDITIONS ACCOMPANYING THE
GRANT OF FRANCHISE.
WHEREAS, it is the mutual desire of the City of North Richland
Hills and Sammons Communica':ions, Inc. to adopt a cable television
franchise on the terms and conditions set forth herein.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby resolved by the City of North
Richland Hills that the following Cable Television Franchise
Ordinance be and the same is hereby adopted.
SECTION 1:
may be cited as
Ordinance."
Short Title.
t~1e "Sammons
This Ordinance shall be known and
Communications, Inc. Franchise
SECTION 2: Definitions. For the purpose of this Ordinance
che ~cllowing terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall
have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the
_~ntsxt, 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. The word "shall" is
always mandatory and not merely directory.
(a) "City" is the City of North Richland Hills in the
State of Texas.
(b) "Company" is the grantee of rights under this
Ordinance awarding a franchise, being Sammons Communications,
Inc.
(c) "Person" is any person, firm, partnership,
association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
(d) "Cable Television System" or "System" shall mean a
system of antennae, cables, wires, lines, towers, waveguides
or other conductors, converters, equipment or facilities
designed and constructed for the purpose of producing,
receiving, amplifying and distributing audio, video and other
forms of electronic or electrical signals located in the City.
(e) "Gross Subscriber Revenues" shall mean the gross
amount received from the operation of all facets of the
Company's business arising from operations within the City.
Such gross receipts received from the operations of all facets
of the Company's business arising from operations within the
City include, but are not limited to, fees received for
monthly service, installation, reconnection, relocation,
special services, 2-way service, leased access and
advertising.
SECTION 3: Qualifications of Grantee and Grant of Author-
ity. A public hearing concerning the franchise herein granted to
the Company was held on December 14, 1992 at 7:00 o'clock at
the North Richland Hills City Hall Council Chambers. Public notice of
said hearing was given in the Mid Cities News
on November 29 & December 6, 1992, which notice
invi ted interested parties to participate in said hearing and
comment upon the legal, character, financial, technical and other
qualifications of the Company to operate a Cable Television System
in the city. Said hearing having been held on the date and place
stated hereinabove, and said hearing having been fully open to the
public, and the City having received at said hearing all comments
regarding the qualifications of the Company to receive this
franchise, the City hereby finds that the Company possesses the
necessary legal, technical, character, financial and other
qualifications, and that therefore the City hereby grants to the
Company a non-exclusive franchise, right and privilege to
construct, erect, operate, modify and maintain in, upon, along,
~~--~ss, above and over and under the highways, streets, alleys,
3~a2walks, public ways and public places now laid out or dedicated
and all extensions thereof, and additions thereto, in the City,
poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes and other
television conductors and fixtures necessary for the maintenance
and operation in the City of a Cable Television System for the
purpose of distributing television and radio signals and various
communications and other electronic services to the public. The
right so granted includes the right to use and occupy said streets,
alleys, public ways and public places and all manner of easements
for the purposes herein set forth.
SECTION 4: Franchise Term. The Franchise granted the
Company herein shall terminate January 28, 2007. The Company shall
be entitled to apply for franchise renewal pursuant to the
procedures described in the Cable Communications Policy Act of
1984.
SECTION 5: Payments to the city. The Company shall,
during each quarter of operation under this Franchise, pay to the
City a quarterly sum of five (5%) percent of the Gross Subscriber
Revenues received by the Company from operations within the City
for the prior quarter. In the event a greater amount is permitted
by law, the Company shall pay such amount to the City. At the time
of payment, the Company shall furnish the City with a report
showing the Company's quarterly Gross Subscriber Revenues during
the preceding quarter. Each quarterly payment will be made to the
City within 30 days after the end of each quarter. Such sum shall
be compensation for the rights, privileges and Franchise and in
consideration of permission to use public streets and ways within
the City and in lieu of. street and alley rentals and charges for
supervision for use of public streets and ways within the city.
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SECTION 6: Records and Reports. The Company shall keep
full, true, accurate and current books of account reflecting Gross
Subscriber Revenues, which books and records shall be made
available for inspection and copying by the City's designee at- all
reasonable times subject to the privacy provisions of the Cable
Communications Policy Act of 1984.
SECTION 7: Rates. Attached hereto and made a part of this
franchise as Exhibit A is a schedule of current rates for basic
cable television service. Such rates may be increased or decreased
by Sammons from time to time.
SECTION 8: Complaint Procedures. The Company shall
maintain an office near the City open during normal business hours
and accessible by a toll free telephone number 365 days a year, 24
hours a day, to receive service complaints. Such complaints shall
be responded to within 24 hours excepting delays resulting from
Acts of God, strikes or other circumstances beyond the control of
the Company. Any service complaints from subscribers shall be
investigated and acted upon as soon as possible. The Company shall
keep a maintenance service log which will indicate the nature of
each service complaint and the time and date thereof. This log
shall be made available for periodic inspection by the city.
SECTION 9 : Liability and Indemnification. The Company
shall pay, and by its acceptance of this the Franchise the Company
expressly agrees that it will pay, all damages and penalties which
the City may legally be required to pay as a result of the
Company's negligence in the installation, operation or maintenance
of the Cable Television System authorized herein. The City shall
notify the Company's representative within fifteen (15) days after
the presentation of any claim or demand to the City, either by suit
or otherwise, made against the City on account of any negligence or
contract as aforesaid on the part of the Company. The Company
further agrees as follows:
(a) Company shall carry Worker's Compensation insurance,
wi th statutory limits, and Employer's Liability insurance with
limits of not less than One Hundred Thousand Dollars
- ($100,000), which shall cover all operations to be performed
by Company as a result of this Ordinance. . -
(b) Company shall carry Comprehensive General Liability
and Comprehensive Automobile Liability insurance with bodily
injury limits of not less than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars
($500,000) per occurrence, and property damage limits of not
less than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000).
(c) Company agrees to furnish City with certificates of
insurance of said policies, which shall provide that insurance
shall not be cancelled unless ten days' prior written notice
shall first be given to city.
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(d) It is expressly agreed and understood that the
Company is an independent contractor and in no event shall
Company's employees be deemed to be employees of the City.
SECTION 10:
System Construction, Maintenance and Procedures
(a) Upon grant of this Franchise to construct and
maintain a community television system in the City, the
Company may enter into contracts with Light, Gas and Water
divisions of the City, any Public Utility companies or any
other owner or lessee of any poles located within or without
the City to whatever extent such contract or contracts may be
expedient and of advantage to the Company for use of poles and
posts necessary for proper installation of the System, obtain
right-of-way permits from appropriate state, county and
federal officials necessary to cross highways or roads under
their respective jurisdictions to supply main trunk lines from
:he Company's receiving antennae, obtain permission from the
Federal Aviation Authority to erect and maintain antennae
suitable to the needs of the System and its subscribers and
obtain whatever other permits a city, county, state or federal
agency may require. In the construction, installation and
maintenance of its System, the Company will use steel, cable
and electronic devices, all of specialized and advanced design
and type. In the operation of its System, the Company will
employ personnel with training, skill and experience in
electronics and communications. Neither material nor
personnel of this sort may be available to the Company for its
System in the event of a war or other similar national
emergency.
(b) The Company's system, poles, wires and appurtenances
shall be located, erected and maintained so that none of its
facilities shall endanger or interfere with the lives of
persons, or interfere with any improvements the City may deem
proper to make, or unnecessarily hinder or obstruct the free
use of the streets, alleys, bridges, easements or public
property, and shall be in compliance with all National
Electric Code clearance requirements.
(c) Extension of service shall not be required into an
area which does not meet the requirements set forth in Section
11 of this Franchise.
(d) All transmission and distribution structures, lines
and equipment erected by the Company within the City shall be
so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper
use of streets, alleys and other public ways and places, 'and
to cause minimum interference with the rights or reasonable
convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the said
streets, alleys or other public ways and places.
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(e) In case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk,
driveway or other surfacing, the Company shall, at its own
cost and expense and in a manner approved by the City, replace
and restore all paving, sidewalk, driveway or surface of any
street or alley disturberl in as good condition as before said
work was commenced consiàering the nature of the work.
(f) In the event that at any time during the period of
this Franchise the City shall lawfully elect to alter or
change the grade of any street, alley or other public way, the
Company upon reasonable notice by the City, shall remove,
relay and relocate its poles, wires, cables, underground
conduits, manholes and other fixtures at its own expense.
(g) The Company shall not place poles or other fixtures
where the same will interfere with any properly located gas,
electric or telephone fixture, water hydrant or main, and all
such poles or other fixtures placed in any street shall be
Dlaced at the outer edge of the sidewalk and inside the curb
line, and those placed in alleys shall be placed close to the
line of the lot abutting on said alley, and then in such
manner as not to interfere with the usual traffic on said
streets, alleys and public ways.
(h) The Company shall, on the request of any person
holding a building moving permit, issued by the City,
temporarily raise or lower its wires to permit the moving of
buildings. The expense of s~ch temporary removal, raising or
lowering of wires shall be paid by the person holding the
same, and the Company shall have the authority to require st'~h
payment in advance. The Company shall be given not less tban
5 business days' advance notice to arrange for such temporary
wire changes.
(i) The Company shall have the authority to trim trees
upon and overhanging streets, alleys, sidewalks and public
places of the City so as to prevent the branches of such trees
from coming in contact with the wires and cables of the
Company.
(j) The Company shall operate, at all times throughout
the life of the Franchise, its cable system with the
capabili ty of immediately interrupting signals as may be
necessary to provide Civil Defense and disaster service
information. The City's head of the Civil Defense shall
activate the override in the event of Civil Defense needs or
disaster. The Company shall not be liable for any loss
related to the City's use or nonuse of the override.
(k) The Company shall provide, throughout the life of
the Franchise, one educational access channel for the
Birdsville Independent School District ("BISD"), one channel
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for the Tarrant County Junior College and one governmental
access channel. Sammons will provide a modulator and cable
lines connecting the production facilities of the BISD (a
single location) to the upstream system. Within 90 days after
BISD begins LIVE programming on the system from the BISD
production facilities, the Company shall provide service, as
described in Section 10(e) below, to Haltom High School.
(I) The Company shall, without charge for installation,
maintenance or service, make a single standard installation
and provide basic service to such outlet in each public school
and City owned and occupied building within the City.
Additional expenses shall be bourne by the institution or the
City as the case may be.
(m) The Company will cooperate with the City in any
request by City for construction of an Institutional
Connection Network serving all municipally-owned, or other
~ublic buildings in the City. Upon request by City, and at
~';1e city's expense, Company will construct an Institutional
Connection Network approved by City at the actual costs to
Company for labor and materials for the construction of the
Institutional Connection Network. Once construction is
completed, the City shall pay to the Company a monthly
maintenance fee at the Company's then prevailing rate.
(n) The Company shall notify all Cable System
subscribers, in writing, at least thirty (30) days in advance
of any change in cable service rates. The Company shall
permit disconnection of any residential cable service, at any
time, at no cost to the subscriber.
(0) The Company will be responsible for maintaining the
connection between City Hall and the library and between the
library and the insertion point for program distribution to
the city. The Company shall make a one time contribution of
$50,000 to Citicable 36 in lieu of any equipment or equipment
maintenance commitments pursuant to this Franchise except for
maintenance of the connections specifically stated in this
Section 10(0).
(p) The Company shall maintain the Cable System in an
effort to avoid unreasonable or repetitve interruptions in
service to subscribers. Unless an interruption is unforeseen
and/or urgent, Company will not interrupt service to make
tests, repairs, adjustments or installations during the period
of maximum subscriber use.
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(q) The Company shall
hundred twenty (120) days of
audited financial statement
certified financial statement
file with the City within one
the end of its fiscal year, an
of Company and an officer's
of the system serving the city.
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SECTION 11: Line Extensions. To provide for a reasonable
and nondiscriminatory policy governing extensions of cable service
within the City, which policy was subject to public review in the
public proceeding leading to the award of this Franchise, Company
shall extend service to new subscribers, at the normal installation
charge and monthly rate for customers of that classification, under
the following terms and conditions.
(a) Where the new subscriber, or nearest subscriber of
a group of new subscribers is located within 250 feet of
existing trunk cable; and
(b) Where the number of homes to be passed by such new
extension cable plant exceeds or equals 40 homes per mile of
such new extension cable plant.
(c) In the event the requirements of subsections (a) and
(b) are not met, the installation cost per subscriber shall be
1atermined as set forth in Exhibit B attached hereto.
SECTION 12: Compliance with Standards. All facilities and
aquipment of Company shall be constructed and maintained in
accordance with the requirements and specifications of the National
Electrical Safety Code and such applicable ordinances and
regulations set forth by the City and/or any other local, state or
federal agencies.
SECTION 13: Company Rules and Requlations. The Company
shall have the authority to promulgate such rules, regulations,
terms and conditions governing the conduct of its business as shall
be reasonably necessary to enable the Company to exercise its
rights and perform its obligations under this Franchise, and to
assure uninterrupted service to each and all of its customers.
However, such rules, regulations, terms and conditions shall not be
in conflict with the provisions hereof or of federal and state
laws.
SECTION 14: Procedures. The Company shall be a party to
any proceeding in which its rights, privileges or interests would
be affected and shall be fully entitled to due process rights.
SECTION 15: Approval of Transfer. The Company shall not
sell or transfer its System to another, nor transfer any rights
under this Franchise to another without written approval by the
City, provided that such approval shall not be unreasonably
withheld if the vendee, assignee or lessee has filed with the
appropriate official of the City an instrument duly executed,
reciting the fact of such sale, assi~nment or lease, accepting the
terms of this Franchise and agreeing to perform all conditions
thereof.
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SECTION 16: Compliance with FCC Rules and Requlatio.ns. The
Company shall, at all times, comply with the rules and regulations
governing CATV operations promulgated by the FCC. This shall
include adherence by the Company to FCC rules regarding technical
and engineering specifications involved in the construction of the
CATV System and signal carriage therein.
SECTION 17: Publication Costs. The Company shall assume
the costs of the publication of this Franchise as such publication
is required by law. A bill for publication costs shall be
presented to the Company by the appropriate City officials upon the
Company's filing of its acceptance of this Franchise and the said
publication costs shall be paid at that time by the Company.
SECTION 18:
Activities Prohibited
(a) The Company shall not allow its cable or other
operations to interfere with television reception of persons
not served by the Company.
(b) Within the City, the Company shall not, as to rates,
charges, service facilities, rules, regulations or in any
other respect make or grant any preference or advantage to any
person, nor subject any person to any prejudice or
disaèvantage, provided that nothing in this Franchise shall be
deemed to prohibit the establishment of a graduated scale of
charges and classified rate schedules to which any customer
coming within such classification would be entitled.
SECTION 19: Separability. If any section, subsection,
sentence, cla~se, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any
reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent
jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and
independent provision and such holding shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions hereof.
SECTION 20: Ordinances Repealed.
thereof in conflict with the provisions
hereby repealed.
All ordinances or parts
of' this Ordinance are
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BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that this Ordinance take effect from the date it shall
have been passed by the appropriate authoritative body, and become effective as otherwise
provided by law.
PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE NORTH RICHLAND HILLS CITY
COUNCIL the 14th day of December, 1992.
APPROVED:
Mayor
ATTEST:
~~d.fý~
Assistant City Secretary
APPROVED AS TO FORM AN .
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Attornðý for City
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EXHIBIT A
BASIC SERVICE RATES
A. Primary Outlet Installation
1. Standard Installation
a.
Aerial
Underground where other utilities
are aerial
$ 45.00
$ 75.00
b.
A standard installation consists of a drop of 150 feet or
less from the feeder line to the customer's residence.
In the case of an underground installation, a standard
installation shall be less than 150 feet and shall not
include those installations requiring conduit or cutting
of streets, sidewalks or other paved areas.
2.
Non-Standard Installation
Company's cost of
labor and materials
plus 10%
B.
Expanded Basic Monthly Service
$ 19.95
$ 7.95
C.
Basic Monthly Service
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EXHIBIT I;'"
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LINE EXTENSION FORMULA
Sammons will extend its trunk and distribution system to serve new
subscribers requesting service after the date hereof at the normal
installation charge and monthly rate under the following terms and
conditions.
(a) Where the new subscriber or subscribers requesting
service are all located within 500 feet from the existing
trunk cable; and
(b) Where the number of homes to be passed by such extension
is equal to or greater than 50 homes per mile of such
extension.
In ~he event that the requirements set forth in (a) and (b) above
~~¿ not met, Sammons will extend its cable television system based
upon the following cost-sharing formula.
1)
Total Cost to Construct Extension*
Miles of Extension
= Cost Per Mile
of Extension
2)
Total Cost Per Mile of Extension
50
= Company's Share
Per Home
3)
Total Cost to Construct Extension
Subscribers Requesting Service
= Cost Per
Subscriber
4)
Cost Per Subscriber minus
Company's Share Per Home
Subscriber's
= Share
* Total Cost to Construct Extension is defined as the
actual turn-key cost to construct the entire
extension including electronics, pole
make-ready charges, labor and the cost of the
house drops.
Sammons does not assess any additional cost for service drops of
150 feet or less. For drops greater than 150 feet, the subscriber
must pay for the additional feet on a cost-pIus-labor basis.
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LEGAL AFFIDAVIT
THE STATE OF TEXAS:
COUNTY OF TARRANT
A TTACH LEGAL
COPY HERE
Before me, the undersigned authority on this day personally ap-
pea red MARG I E LANGLEY
known to me to be a credible person, who
first being sworn, deposed and upon her oath said:
That she is the C'.L.A.R. of the MID CITIES NE.WS
, a newsJ'a-
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per which has been regularly and continuously published and of general
circulation in the City/Town of N. RICHLAND HILLS , for a period of
,more than one year next preceding the first publication of the attached
LEGAL AD
and that he caused said notice to be published in
said newspaper on the following date(s).
J-~V -c¡)
That the attached is a true and correct copy of said notice as
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published on said date(s) in .aid ýfpr~. '"
'ð, --lJ ~~
before me, this thé-~\. day of0--2L~
Sworn to and subscribed
19 qò.
~l.f\M~~ ~~()-~C'N\_.
\J . _Notary Public,
TARRANT County, Texas
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