[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Dover (now Toms River) 2-24-1998 by Ord. No. 3323-98. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Cable television franchise — See Ch. A598.
The purpose of this ordinance is to grant a
nonexclusive municipal consent to the operation of an open video service
by Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc., in the Township of Dover
and to establish the terms and conditions of said consent pursuant
to the applicable law.
For the purpose of this ordinance, the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings
given herein. Such meaning or definition of terms is supplemental
to those definitions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
rules and regulations, 47 CFR Subsection 76.1 et seq., and shall in
no way be construed to broaden, alter or conflict with the federal
or state definitions:
47 U.S.C. § 573.
Those channels not included in the definitions below.
The grantee of rights under this ordinance and known as "Bell
Atlantic Network Services, Inc."
Those channels that are used or reserved for use by education
authorities and use.
The Federal Communications Commission or any successor agency.
Those channels on the system which are used or reserved for
use by the municipality and its agencies.
The municipality of Dover Township, County of Ocean, in the
State of New Jersey.
Those channels that are used or reserved for use by members
of the public.
A person or organization whose premises is connected to the
company facilities to receive company transmissions.
The municipality hereby grants to the company
its nonexclusive consent to establish and maintain an open video system
in the Township of Dover, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 573.
The Township Committee hereby finds that the
company has been designated pursuant to law to operate an open video
system in the Township of Dover. It also acknowledges the recommendation
of the Township Cable Television Advisory Committee that consent be
given to the company to operate the aforementioned system in return
for the terms of the agreement as stated below.
[Amended 6-9-1998 by Ord. No. 3347-98]
The consent herein granted shall expire three
years from the date of the adoption of this ordinance.
If the company seeks a successive consent, it
shall, prior to the expiration of this consent, apply for a municipal
consent pursuant to applicable state and federal rules and regulations.
The terms are as follows:
A.
Fees due Township by operator. The company will pay
Dover Township 2% of gross revenues received for carriage of video
programming from all unaffiliated video programming providers on the
network for transmission of programming services in the Township.
B.
Fees due Township by operator's programming affiliate.
The company's video programming affiliate (presently Bell Atlantic
Video Services Company) will pay Dover Township 2% of gross revenues
from all recurring charges in the nature of subscription fees paid
by subscribers for its programming services in the Township.
C.
Method of payment. The company will remit all fees
due the Township from its operations, as well as the fees due for
the operations of its programming affiliate, on a quarterly basis,
with payments due within 30 days of the close of each calendar quarter.
D.
PEG channels: All subscribers to the open video service
(OVS) network, either to programming offered by a Bell Atlantic affiliate
or by an unrelated third party, will receive PEG programming. Bell
Atlantic will provide two PEG channels for use by the Township, as
follows:
(1)
The high school channel. The company will carry the
high school channel as a PEG channel. Bell Atlantic will provide the
digital encoder and related services for the channel.
(2)
Government services channel. This will be a full bandwidth
channel capable of carrying video transmission but shall initially
be used for the transmission of text-based information of a bulletin-board-type
nature with information about local community events and government
information. The company will donate to Dover Township one personal
computer with the software necessary to program the information to
be disseminated over the channel and will provide initial training
and technical support to get the bulletin board up and running.
During the term of this franchise, and any renewal
thereof, the company shall maintain in or within reasonable proximity
of its service area a local business office or agent for the purpose
of receiving, investigating and resolving all complaints regarding
the quality of service, equipment malfunctions and similar matters.
The Cable Television Advisory Committee is hereby
designated as the complaint officer for the Township of Dover.
No person shall be required to receive the services
of the company, and any person who shall agree to receive such services
of the company may at his election at any time terminate the services
of the company without charge or cost except for a continuing liability
to pay any unpaid charges incurred to the time of termination.
The municipality, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 543,
has no jurisdiction over rates. Accordingly, the municipality makes
no determination as to the reasonableness of the rates proposed.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid
or unconstitutional by any court or federal or state agency 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.
Every direction, notice or order to be served
upon the company shall be sent by certified mail or hand delivered.
Every notice to be served upon the municipality shall be delivered
or sent by certified mail to the Dover Township Municipal Complex,
33 Washington Street, Toms River, New Jersey.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately
upon final passage and publication as provided by law.
