OR 192 Regulates CATV & provides procedures for a nonexclusive franchise to build, construct, & maintain a CATV system ORDINANCE NO.192
AN ORDINANCE regulating CATV and providing procedures for a non-
exclusive franchise to build, construct, operate and maintain a cable tele-
vision system in the City of Coppell, Texas.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COPPELL, TEXAS:
SECTION 1: Index
SECTION 2: Definitions
SECTION 3: Subject to Police Powers of City
SECTION 4: Territorial Area Involved
SECTION 5: Franchise Term
SECTION 6: Renewal Procedure
SECTION 7: Franchise Fees
SECTION 8: Transfers
SECTION 9: Indemnification
SECTION 10: Complaint Procedure
SECTION 11: Construction and Maintenance
SECTION 12: Revocation of Franchise
SECTION 13: Construction Standards
SECTION 14: CATV Services to be Provided
SECTION 15: Rate Changes
SECTION 16: FCC Rules Applicable
SECTION 17: Unlawful Acts
~ Q ~ s
SECTION (Z)'~ Severability
ECTION ~ Application for License
SECTION ~:~Effective Date
SECTION 2: DEFINITIONS
CITY: Shall mean the City of Coppell, a municipal corporation in
the State of Texas.
CITY COUNCIL: Shall mean the City Council of the City of Coppell,
Texas.
D.C.
FCC: Shall mean the Federal Communication Commission, Washington,
UTILITIES: Shall mean water lines, sanitary sewer lines, gas
lines, telephone lines or conduit, electric lines, either underground or over-
head, and other public or private transmission or distrubtion systems.
CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM: Shall meen the facilities and equipment
that receives directly or indirectly over the air and amplifies or otherwise
modifies the signals, transmitting programs broadcast by one or more television
stations or radio stations, and receives or originates other non-broadcast
signals and distributes such signals by wire or cable to subscribing members
of the general public who pay for such service.
FRANCHISE: Shall mean and include any authorization granted in
terms of a license, privilege permit, or otherwise, to build, operate and
maintain a Cable Television System in the City.
GRANTEE: Shall mean the person, firm or corporation to whom or
which a franchise is herein defined, is granted by the City Council under this
ordinance, and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of said person,
firm or corporation.
STREET: Shall mean the surface, the air space above the sur-
face and the area below the surface of any public street, alley, communications
for public utility easement, or other public rights-of-way or public places.
SUBSCRIBER: Shall mean any person or entity receiving for any
purpose a Cable Television System service of the grantee hereunder.
PREMIUM CHANNEL and/or PREMIUM PROGRAM: Shall mean an auxiliary
service offered on one or more channels by protected transmission techniques
for which subscribers desiring such service pay extra fees on a fees on a per
channel or on a per program basis.
SECTION 3: SUBJECT TO POLICE POWERS OF CITY
Grantee shall at all times during the term of a franchise to be
subject to all lawful exercise of the police power of the City. The right is
hereby reserved to the City to adopt, in addition to the provisions herein
contained and any other existing applicable ordinances, such additional app-
licable ordinances as it shall find necessary in the exercise of its police
power; providing that such regulations shall be reasonable and not in conflict
with the rights herein granted, the laws of the State of Texas, the laws of
the United States of America, or the rules of the Federal Communications
Commission.
SECTION 4: TERRITORIAL AREA INVOLVED
This franchise is for the present territorial limits of the
city and for any area henceforth added thereto during the term of this fran-
chise.
SECTION 5: FRANCHISE TERM
A franchise shall take effect and be in full force from and after
the final passage hereof, subject to acceptance by Grantee as herein pro-
vided, and the same shall continue in full force and effect for a term of
fifteen (15) years, beginning with the date of such acceptance; provided, how-
ever, that should FCC certification be necessary prior to implementation of
the cable television service contemplated under the franchise, then the term
shall begin upon the effective date of the grant by the FCC of the necessary
certification.
SECTION 6: RENEWAL PROCEDURE
Grantee shall have the option of renewal of a franchise for an
additional period not to exceed fifteen (15) years. Should Grantee exercise
this option, it shall so notify the City, in writing, not less than three
(3) months prior to expiration of this franchise. Upon exercise of this option
by Grantee, the City shall conduct a full renewal proceeding upon prior notice
and opportunity of all interested parties to be heard. The renewal proceeding
shall be held for the purpose of considering Grantee's performance under this
franchise in order to determine whether to renew this franchise. Renewal shall
not be unreasonably denied and shall be granted unless Grantee is found, after
opportunity to be heard, to be in material and continuing default under the
provisions of this franchise and to be unqualified to continue operation of
this cable television,system. If a franchise is renewed by the City, all of
the terms and provisions contained herein shall be controlling during the re-
newal period, except to the extent that said terms and provisions are modified
with the mutual consent and agreement of the parties. Should the City, for
any reason be unable to complete the renewal proceeding prior to the expir-
ation of a franchise, Grantee shall have the right to continue the operation
of this cable television system pursuant to the terms of the franchise until
such time as the renewal of the franchise is approved or denied. If renewal
is denied, such denial shall be accompanied by a written statement setting
forth the reasons for the denial by any court of competent jurisdiction.
Furthermore, in the event that the City denies renewal, Grantee shall be afforded
a period of six {6) months following denial within which to sell, transfer or
convey this cable television system, including the franchise, to a qualified
purchaser at fair market value. During this six-month period, which shBll
run from the effective date of the final order or decision denying renewal,
including any appeal, Grantee shall have the right to operate this cable tele-
vision system pursuant to the terms of this franchise.
SECTION 7: FRANCHISE FEES
Grantee shall pay the City a quarterly franchise fee equal to three
percent (3%) of gross quarterly receipts and said fee shall be paid within
thirty (30) days after the end of each calendar quarter. The City shall have
the right to inspect the Grantee's records during normal business hours
showing the gross subscribers receipts from which the franchise fees are
computed. Grantee shall furnish City a gross receipts statement prepared and
signed by a certified public accountant within sixty (60) days after the close
of Grantee's fiscal year. As a result of this final statement, adjustments
shall be made by either the City or the Grantee to the quarterly amounts paid
during the preceding year.
SECTION 8: TRANSFERS
All of the rights and privileges and all of the obligations, duties
and liabilities created by a franchise shall pass to and be binding upon the
successors of the City and the Grantee. A franchise shall not be assigned or
transferred without the written approval of the City Council, which approval
shall not be unreasonably withheld provided the transferee or assignee meets
financial, personal and experience qualifications as set forth by the City.
This section shall not prevent the assignment of a franchise by Grantee as
security for debt without approval of the City. Transfers or assignments of
a franchise between parent and subsidiary corporation or between entities of
which at least 51% of the beneficial ownership is held by the same person,
persons or entities shall be permitted without prior approval of the City.
SECTION 9: INDEMNIFICATION
Grantee shall save the City harmless from all loss sustained by the
City on account of any suit, judgment, execution, claim or demand whatsoever
against the City resulting from negligence on the part of Grantee in the
construction, operation or maintenance of its cable television system in the
City; and for this purpose Grantee shall carry property damage and personal
liability insurance with some responsible insurance company or companies
qualified to do business in the State of Texas. The amounts of such insur-
ance to be carried for liability due to property damage shall be $300,000
as to any one person and $300,000 as to any one accident; and against liabi-
lity due to injury to or death of persons, $300,000 as to any one person
and $900,000 as to any one accident. The City shall notify Grantee, in
writing, within ten (10) days after the presentation of any claim or demand,
either by suit or otherwise, made against the City on account of any negli-
gence as aforesaid on the part of Grantee. Failure by the City to properly
notify Grantee within ten (10) days of any such claim, suit or demand against
the City shall release Grantee from its obligation to indemnify the City as
provided herein.
SECTION 10: COMPLAINT PROCEDURE
Grantee shall maintain a business office or a toll-free telephone
listing in the City for the purpose of receiving inquiries and complaints
from its customers and the general public. Grantee shall investigate all com-
plaints within five (5) days of their receipt and shall in good faith attempt
to resolve them swiftly and equitably. The following City officials shall be
responsible for receiving and acting upon and unresolved complaints: City
Administrator. Written notice of this complaint procedure, including the
identity of the City official responsible for receiving unresolved complaints,
shall be given to each subscriber at the time of initial subscription to the
cable system.
SECTION 11: CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
(A) All structures, lines and equipment erected by Grantee within
the City shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper
use of streets, alleys, easements and other public ways, and placed to cause
minimum interference with the rights or reasonable convenience of property
owners, and Grantee shall comply with all reasonable, proper and lawful ord-
inances of the City now or hereafter in force. Existing poles, posts, conduits
and other such structures of any telephone company or other public utility be
made available to the Grantee for leasing or licensing upon reasonable terms
and rates and may be used to the extent practicable in order to minimize
interference with service and avoid unnecessary duplication of facilites.
(B) In case of any disturbance by Grantee of pavement, side-
walk, driveway or other surfacing, Grantee shall at its own cost and expense
and in a manner approved by the City, replace and restore all paving, side-
walk, drivewa~ utilities or surfaces so disturbed in as good condition as
before said work was commenced.
(C) In the event that at any time during the period of this
franchise the City shall lawfully elect to alter or change any street, alley,
easement or other public way requiring the relocation of Grantee's facilities,
then in such event Grantee, upon reasonable notice by the City, shall remove,
relocate the same at its own expense.
(D) Grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a building
moving permit issued by the City, temporarily raise or lower its lines to
permit the moving of the building. The expense of such temporary removal shall
be paid by the person requesting the same, and Grantee shall have the author-
ity to require such payment in advance.
(El Grantee shall have the authority to trim trees upon and over-
hanging all streets, alleys, easement, sidewalks and public places of the City
so as to prevent the branches of such tress from coming into contact with
Grantee's facilities upon approval of the city in writing.
(F) All poles, lines, structures and other facilities of Grantee
in, on, over and under the streets, sidewalks, alleys, easements and public
grounds or places of the City shall be kept by Grantee at all times in a safe
condition.
(G) Should any construction be necessary for Grantee to provide
the cable television service contemplated under this franchise, a significant
portion of such construction (at least 50%) shall be accomplished within one
(1) year after the effective date of this Ordinance, or if FCC certification
is required prior to implementation of the cable television service contem-
plated under this franchise, within one (1) year after the effective date
of the grant by~t~he FCC of the necessary certification. Thereafter, Grantee
shall reasonably proceed to complete the necessary construction at a rate of
not less than 100% within two (2) years from the end of such first year.
(H) Grantee shall not be required to extend service to those
areas of the City where there would be less than 35 homes in front of each
mile of additional cable. Areas with densities in excess of the 35 homes
per mile of cable shall be considered as part of the necessary normal dis-
tribution. If requested and at Grantee's option, Grantee may extend service
beyond the normal distribution and shall have the right to charge the sub-
scriber(s) the actual cost of the extension lines necessary to provide service.
(I) Grantee may, at the option of the Grantee, place energized
or unenergized cable or conduit in all new residential developments in the
City as they are constructed. Grantee shall extend cable service to any new
development in the City at the standard rate if:
a. The new development meets the density requirements of
35 homes per mile of additional cable and;
b. Fifty percent of the new development to be served has
requested service, but
c. The Grantee shall not be required to complete in any
one year installation in new development more that 60% of the existing system.
SECTION 12: REVOCATION OF FRANCHISE
If Grantee violates any provisions of this Ordinance, it may have
its franchise revoked therefor; hoever, Grantee will be notified in writing
by the City Attorney of such violation and will have ninety (90) days to
correct such violation, and further, said Grantee shall have a right to a
public hearing before the Mayor and Council, if so demanded, within ten (10)
days of being notified of a violation of the terms and conditions of this
Ordinance.
SECTION 13: CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS
(A) Grantee shall design and construct a Cable Television System
capable of meeting the technical standards for performance contained in Part
76 of the FCC rules and regulations. Construction and maintenance of the Cable
Television system, including house connections, shall be made in accordance
with the provisions of the National Electrical Safety Code, prepared by the
National Bureau of Standards, the National Electrical code of the National
Board of Fire Underwriters and such applicable ordinances and regulations
of the City.
(B) Grantee shall construct a system with technical capacity
for 20 channels of standard 6Mhz television. Only twelve (12) channels will
be activated initially. Grantee shall have option to make equipment changes
and add additional equipment as necessary to activate additional channels
when additional programming becomes available and the additional services
become economically feasible.
SECTION 14: CATV SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED
(A) Regular Service:
Grantee shall provide the services described below in accord-
ance with FCC regulations and subject to FCC approval. Non-required services
to be provided shall be determined by grantee based on availability, economic
feasibility and suitability of programming content to a significant number of
subscribers. It is anticipated that Grantee may make changes in services pro-
vided hereunder. Service is as follows:
a. Local television broadcast signals:
1. KDFW - TV
2. KXAS - TV
3. WFAA - TV
4. KTVT - TV
5. KERA - TV
6. KXTX - TV
b. FM
Service:
Dallas-Ft. Worth CBS
Dallas-Ft. Worth NBC
Dallas-Ft. Worth ABC
Dallas-Ft. Worth Independent
Dallas-Ft. Worth Educational
Dallas-Ft. Worth Religious
FM Stations Dallas-Ft. Worth All FM in Market
c. Additional television and news service:
7. Independent Broadcast Station
8. Independent Braodcast Station
9. Non-Broadcast National Programming
10. Non-Broadcast Religious Programming
11. Automated News, Weather and Sports Information
d. Emergency Alert System:
All channel voice override Civil Emergency Alert System
for local use.
(B) Premium Service:
Grantee shall select and provide one or more premium services
of interest to a majority of subscribers such as Home Box Office, Home Theatre
Network~ etc.
SECTION 15: RATE CHANGES
The rates for installation of equipment and regular subscriber
service shall be nondiscriminatory and shall be as set forth in the Fran-
chise Agreement.
(A) No increase in rates charged for installation of equipment
and regular subscriber services as specified above shall be made effective
except as authorized by the City Council. Not later than sixty (60) days
after public notice of the proposed increase as given by Grantee to the
City Council, there shall be held a full, open and public proceeding upon
prior notice with opportunity of all interested parties to be heard. It
is contemplated that the City Council shall not unreasonably withhold approval.
If the City Council fails to approve the proposed increase, the Grantee may
pursue his rights under law.
(B) Recognizing the pendency of court litigation and Congressional
legislation at the time of the passing of this Ordinance which may impose
copyright liability on all or a part of the cable television service rendered
by Grantee in the City, and further recognizing the uncertainty and jeopardy
into which such potential liability places Grantee, should such copyright
liability be imposed upon Grantee by any court or by the Congress, Grantee
shall have the right to increase its rates for regular subscriber services
in order to offset such copyright liability. Any increase in Grantee's rate
schedule pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject to the procedures
specified in the preceding paragraph and shall become effective ten (10) days
after notice of such increase is given to the City Council together with a
certification that the increase is due solely to the imposition of copyright
liability and that the increase is limited to any amount necessary to cover
the amount of the liability.
(C) Approval of the City Council must be obtained for any increase
in rates charged for installation of equipment and regular subscriber services
resulting from the imposition of a Federal or State sales tax or FCC regulatory
tax on the industry or other regulatory agency or body tax.
(D) Rates for services other than installation of equipment and
regular subscriber services, including, but not limited to premium channel
service, shall be established and published by Grantee pursuant to the rules
of the Federal Communications Commission.
SECTION 16: FCC RULES APPLICABLE
This franchise is governed by and subject to all applicable rules
and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, specifically in-
cluding Part 76, and by the laws of the State of Texas. Should there be any
modifications of the provisions of Section 76.31 of the Rules and Regulations
of the Federal Communications Commission which must be incorporated into this
franchise, the City and Grantee agree that such incorporation shall be accomp-
lished within one (1) year after the effective date of the FCC's adoption of
the modification or upon renewal of this franchise, whichever occurs first.
SECTION 17: UNLAWFUL ACTS
(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to make any unauthorized
connection, whether physically, electrically, accoustically, inductively or
otherwise, with any part of Grantee's cable television system for the purpose
of enabling himself or others to receive any television signals, radio signals,
pictures, programs, sounds, or any other information or intelligence trans-
mitted over Grantee's cable system without payment to Grantee or its lessee.
(B) It shall be unlawful for any person, without the consent of
the owner, to willfully tamper with, remove, or injure any cable, wires or
other equipment used for the distribution of television signals, radio signals,
pictures, programs, or any other information or intelligence transmitted over
Grantee's cable system.
(C) It shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more
than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), or by imprisonment for a term not to
exceed six (6) months, or both, for any person to violate any of the provisions
of this Section.
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SECTION 18: FILING FEE:
A One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), filing fee shall be paid by
each applicant, upon submitting an application to the City for a franchise.
SECTION ~: SEVERABILITY
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion
of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any
Federal or State Court of administrative or governmental agency of competent
jurisdiction, specifically including the FCC, such portion shall be deemed
a separate, distinct and independen~ provision, and such holding shall not
affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.
SECTIONS: APPLICATION FOR LICENSE
(A) Each applicant for a franchise to construct, operate or
maintain any cable television system in the City shall be filed with the
City Council and shall contain, at a minimum, the following:
The name, address and telephone number of the
applicant. If the applicant is a partnership,
the home and business of each partner shall
also be set forth. If the applicant is a cor-
portation, the application shall state the name
and addresses of its directors, main officers,
major stockholders and associates and the names
and addresses of parent or subsidiary companies.
A statement setting forth in its entirety any
and all agreements and understandings, whether
formal or informal, written, oral or implied
existing or porposed to exist between the app-
licant and any person who proposes to have an
ownership interest with respect to the proposed
franchise or to the proposed cable television
operation. If a franchise is granted to a person
acting as a representative of another person and
such information is not disclosed in the original
application, the franchise shall be deemed void
and of no force and effect.
Financial statements, as determined by the Council
showing applicant's financial status and financial
ability to complete the construction and instal-
lation of the proposed cable system and/or continue
the operation of the existing cable system.
A statement describing the cable system and speci-
fying the type and capacity of the cable system
proposed to be constructed, installed, maintained
or operated by the applicant and the proposed or
existing location of the cable system.
A description of all previous experience of the
applicant in providing cable television system
service and in related or similar fields.
(B) Prior to the issuance of a franchise, the Council shall
provide for the holding of a public hearing following reasonable notice
to the public, at which every applicant and its proposals shall be ex-
amined and the public and all interested parties afforded a reasonable
opportunity to be heard.
(t) In making any determination hereunder as to any application,
the Council shall give due consideration to the quality of the service
proposed, experience, character, background and the financial responsibility
of any applicant and its management and owners, willingness and ability to
to abide by policy conditions, License limitations and requirements, and
any other considerations deemed pertinent to the Council for safeguarding
the interest of the City and the public.
SECTION ~ EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall become effective upon final passage.
Duly passed by the City Council of the City of Coppell, Texas,
ATTEST:
Mayor
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City Secretar~
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney