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HomeMy WebLinkAboutO-247-8-78ORDINANCE NO. 247 CITY OF ALLEN COUNTY OF COLLIN, STATE OF TEXAS AN ORDINANCE GRANTING TO CABLEVISION OF ALLEN, A SUB- SIDIARY OF MEDIA SYSTEMS, INC., ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, A FRANCHISE TO FURNISH AND SUPPLY CABLE TELE - VISION (CABLEVISION) TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE CITY OF ALLEN, COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS, AND THE ENVIRONS THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR THE WAIVER OF A FEE OR CHARGE FOR THE USE OF THE STREETS, ALLEYS AND PUBLIC WAYS, AND PROVIDING THAT IT SHALL BE IN LIEU OF OTHER FEES AND CHARGES, EXCEPTING AD VALOREM TAXES. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALLEN, TEXAS: SECTION 1. That the City of Allen, Texas, hereinafter called "City," hereby grants to Media Systems, Inc., herein- after called "Company," its successors and assigns, a franchise to use and occupy the present and future streets, alleys, high- ways, public places, public thoroughfares and grounds of City for the purpose of laying, maintaining, constructing, operating and replacing therein and thereon cablevision lines and all other appurtenant equipment needed and necessary to deliver and sell cablevision services to persons, firms and corporations, including all of the general public, within the City's corporate limits and the environs thereof, such franchise being granted for a term of fifteen (15) years from and after the date of the final passage and approval of this ordinance. SECTION 2. Company shall lay, maintain, construct, op- erate and replace its cablevision wires, cables, and con- ductors and other equipment so as not to interfere with traf- fic and shall promptly clean up and restore to an approximate original condition, at its cost, all thoroughfares and other surfaces which it may disturb. The location of all cablevision wires, cables, conductors, and other appurtenant equipment shall be fixed under the supervision of the City Council or an authorized committee or agent appointed by said Council. The governing body of City shall recommend the extension of subject cables, wires and conductors, into new subdivisions to be underground and to be emplaced by the subdivider in the same manner as telephone and electric utilities. SECTION 3. When Company shall make or cause to be made excavations or shall place obstructions in any street, alley or other public place, the public shall be protected by bar- riers and lights placed, erected and maintained by Company, and in the event of injury to any person or damage to any property by reason of the construction, operation or main- tenance of cablevision equipment and system of Company, Com- pany shall indemnify and keep harmless City from any and all liability in connection therewith. Company shall repair, clean up and restore to an approximate original condition all streets and alleys distrubed during the construction and repair of its cablevision equipment and system. All transmission and distribution structures, lines, equipment, and facilities erected or maintained by Company within the City shall be so located as to cause minimum inter- ference with the proper and intended use of streets, high- ways, alleys, bridges, and other public ways and places, and to cause minimum interference with the rights or reason- able convenience of property owners who adjoin any of said streets, highways, alleys, bridges, or other public ways or places. Company, upon the written request of any person holding a building moving permit issued by City, shall remove, raise, or lower its cable wires and conductors, temporarily to per- mit the moving of houses, buildings, or other bulky struc- tures. The reasonable expense of such temporary removal, raising, or lowering shall be paid by the benefitted person or persons and Company may require such payment in advance. Company shall be given not less than forty-eight (48) hours advance notice in writing to arrange for such temporary transmission line changes. Company shall have the authority, to the same extent that the City has such authority, to trim trees upon or overhanging streets, highways, alleys, bridges, or other pub- lic ways or places of the City in order to prevent the branches of such trees from coming in contact with the wire, cables, conductors, or other facilities or equipment of Company. SECTION 4. Company may promulgate and enforce reason- able rules and regulations in the conduct of its business and may require, before furnishing any service, the execution of a contract therefor and may require each consumer, within the corporate limits of City, to pay Company for the installa- tion of cablevision service lines. Service .lines are defined as wires, cables, conductors, amplifying and distribution equipment connected to Company's main distribution system in the streets or alleys to and ending in the subscriber's premises. SECTION 5. Company shall be entitled to require from each and every subscriber of Cablevision, before cablevision service is commenced, a deposit of twice the amount of an estimated average monthly bill, which said deposit may be retained by Company until service is discontinued and all bills therefor have been paid. Company shall then return said deposit to the subscriber, together with nine per cent (g%) interest thereon from the date of said deposit up to the date of discontinuance of service. Company shall be entitled to apply said deposit, with accrued interest, to any indebtedness owed Company by the sub- scriber making the deposit. SECTION 6. The rights, privileges, and franchises granted by this ordinance are not to be considered exclusive, and City hereby expressly reserves the right to grant, at any time, like privileges, rights and franchises as it may see fit to any other person or corporation for the purpose of furnishing cable television for City and inhabitants thereof. SECTION 7. City hereby grants Company the authority to contract with the City or with any appropriate board or agency thereof or with the holder or owner of any utility franchise in the City of Allen for the use,.rental, or lease of its or their poles, underground conduits, and other struc- tures and facilities for the purpose of extending, carry- ing, or laying Company's wires, cables, electronic conductors, and other facilities and appurtenances necessary or usable in receiving, amplifying, and distributing television signals and in providing cable television service in the City of Allen. SECTION 8. Company shall furnish reasonably adequate service to the public at reasonable rates and charges therefor; rates are to be determined by Company and to be consistent with industry rates. Company hereby agrees to submit to City, in writing, a notice of rate changes at least 60 days prior to any change in rates charged by Company for its basic services, such notice to include detailed reasons for any increase in rates. Company hereby agrees to notify subscribers, in writing, at least 30 days prior to any increase in rates charged by Com- pany for its basic services. "Basic services" is defined as the installation fees and monthly subscriber fees and does not include any premium op- tions such as paid television service, extra sets, security service, or any other ancilliary options offered in the future paid for in addition to the basic service, provided such options do not involve the use of City property to install and maintain such optional equipment or service. SECTION 9. Company, its successors and assigns, ees to pay an -d City agrees to accept, on or before the day of , 1978, and on or before the same ay o each succeeding ear uring the life of this franchise, up to and including the year 1994, a sum of money which shall be equivalent to three per cent (3%) of the gross receipts for basic services for the preceding calendar year, received by Company for the sale of Cablevision service and equipment to its domestic and commercial subscribers within the city limits of the City of Allen, excluding however, receipts derived from sales to governmental users and subscribers in said City, but including users and subscribers outside the City Limits of Allen who are provided Cablevision service through the use of city streets, alleys, highways, public places, public thoroughfares, and grounds of the City, and who are served from main distribution points within the City Limits through feeder lines which extend outside the City Limits. Such annual payment shall be for the rights and privileges herein granted to Company, including expressly the right to use the streets, alleys and public ways of said City. And it is also expressly agreed that the afore- said annual payment shall be in lieu of any and all other and additional occupation and easement taxes or charges (whether levied as an ad valorem, special or other character of tax or charge), in lieu of municipal license and inspection fees, street taxes and street or alley rentals or charges, and all other and additional municipal taxes, charges, levies, fees and rentals whatsoever which City may impose or hereafter be authorized to levy and impose upon real and personal property. Should City not have the legal power to agree that the payment of the foregoing sums of money shall be in lieu of taxes, licenses, fees, street or alley rentals or charges, R or occupation and easement taxes or charges aforesaid, then City agrees that it will apply so much of said sums of money paid as may be necessary to satisfy Company's obligation, if any, to pay any such taxes, licenses, charges, fees, rentals, occupation or easement taxes or charges. In order to determine the gross receipts received by Com- pany from the sale of cablevision equipment and services (expressly excluding the sales to governmental subscribers) within the corporate limits of City, Company agrees that on the same date that payments are made as provided in the pre- ceding paragraph of the Section 9, it will file with the City Clerk a sworn report showing the number of users and sub- scribers within said city limits for the calendar year pre- ceding the date of payment. City may, if it sees fit, have the books and records of Company examined by a representa- tive of City to ascertain the correctness of the sworn re- ports agreed to be filed herein. Receipts from sales to governmental users or subscribers shall include all those receipts derived from the sale of cablevision service to Federal, State, County or City govern- ments or branches and subdivisions thereof, school districts or other similar districts, it being the intention to include with the term "governmental users and subscribers" all tax -supported institutions owned or operated directly or indirectly by said governments and branches or subdivisions thereof, such as schools, colleges, hospitals, charitable institutions, airports, courthouse, city hall and other institutions of like or similar kind and character. SECTION 10. All work done in connection with the con- struction, reconstruction, maintenance, or repair of said cablevision system shall be subject to and governed by all laws, rules, and regulations of City now in force, or that may be hereafter passed and adopted, and which are uniformly enforced, for the government and regulation thereof, and not inconsistent herewith. SECTION 11. The construction, maintenance, and operation of Company's cablevision system and all property of Company subject to this ordinance shall be subject to all lawful police powers and regulations by the governing body of the City of Allen. City shall have the power at any time to order and require Company to remove and abate any pole, tower, wire, cable, electronic conductor, or other structure or facility that is dangerous to life or property and, in the event Company, after written notice, fails or refuses to act, City shall have the power to remove or abate the same at the expense of Company, all without compensation or liability for damages by City to Company. SECTION 12. Should the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) amend or modify its rules or regulations relating to local cable television franchises in a manner effecting this ordinance, such rules and regulations shall be incorpo- rated into this ordinance as if originally a part hereof and supercede any inconsistent portions hereof. Company shall have full right and authority to utilize its cablevision system in any manner permitted by the FCC, including, but not limited to lawful business or commercial uses or opera- tions other than the delivery of television signals to sub- scribers. SECTION 13. Company agrees that the rights, privileges and licenses granted hereunder may be assigned by theCompany only with the prior approval of the governing body of the City. No assignment to any person, firm or corporation shall be effective until the assignee has filed with the City Secretary an instrument, duly executed, reciting the fact of such assignment, accepting the terms of this franchise, and agree- ing to perform all the conditions hereof. SECTION 14. If any section, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be illegal, unconstitutional, or in violation of the rules or regulation of any governmental agency, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. SECTION 15. Company hereby covenants and agrees that it will commence construction of cable television facilities within two (2) years of the effective date of this ordinance, unless it is unreasonably delayed by Federal, State, or Local authorities or "Acts of God." SECTION 16. Company shall file its written acceptance of this franchise ordinance within sixty (60) days after its final passage and approval by said City. PASSED AND APPROVED on this the O� day of , - 4 Mayor City of Allen, Texas ATTEST: City Secretary Approved as to Form: City Attorney R t.. STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF COLLIN I, Juaae112 Cookse7 , Secretary of the City of Allen, Collin County, Texas, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of an ordinance passed by the City Council of the City of Allen at its rPjM1ar session held on the _7t, day of AWMst , 197, as it appears of record in the minutes of said City Council, in Book , page WITNESS MY HAND AND SEAL OF SAID CITY, this the 18th day of August , A. D. 1978. Q-" " -, & 4: 5; " / Secretary City of Allen, T as AFFIDAVIT AND PROOF OF PUBLICATION THE STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF COLLIN BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared BUDDY W. CAMPER, who having been by me duly sworn, on oath deposes and says: That he is publisher of THE ALLEN AMERICAN, a newspaper published in Collin County, Texas, not less fre- quently than once a week, having a general circulation in said county, and having been published regularly and con- tinuously for more than twelve months prior to publishing of which the attached is a true and written copy, and which was published in THE ALLEN AMERICAN on and which was issued on v �� , by /4/. h/• of Collin County, Texas. A prited copy of said publication is attached hereto. v SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this day of e , A.D. 19 2 0 Q. / Notary Public in and for Collin County, Texas Publisher's Fee $ ORDINANCE NO. 247 CITY OF ALLEN COUNTY OF COLLIN, - STATE OF TEXAS . AN ORDINANCE GRANTING TO CABLEVISION OF ALLEN, A SUBSIDIARY .OF MEDIA SYSTEMS, INC., ITS, SUCCES- SORS- AND ASSIGNS, A �. FRANCHISE TO FURNISH AND SUPPLY, CABLE TELE- . VISION -� [CABLEVISION] TO .THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE. CITY OF ALLEN, COI: - LIN COUNTY, TEXAS, AND THE ENVIRONS THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR -THE WAI- VER, OF A FEE OR' CHARGE I' -,FOR THE USE OF THE , STREETS, ALLEYS AND PUB- -LIC WAYS, AND PROVIDING THAT IT SHALL` BE IN LIEU W OTHER FEES AND CHAR-' GES, EXCEPTING AD VA- LOREM TAXES. PASSED `AND APPROVED on this the 3rd.day, of August, 1978. F-s-M.B. Pierson, Mayor City of Allen, Texas . r11 ATTEST: ' s - r -s-Juanelle Cooksey, r City Secretary