It shall be unlawful for any person to construct, erect, install, maintain or operate a cable system in the Town of Galena within any public rights-of-way without first having been granted a franchise by the Town pursuant to this chapter.
Any franchise to provide cable service shall be valid within all the corporate limits of the Town of Galena, Maryland, unless otherwise specified in a franchise agreement.
Upon adoption of a franchise agreement and execution thereof, a grantee shall be bound by all the terms and conditions of this chapter and any amendments thereto, unless otherwise provided in a franchise agreement. A grantee shall also agree to provide all services specifically set forth in its application, if any, and to provide cable service within the confines of its franchise area. By its acceptance of a franchise agreement, a grantee specifically grants and agrees that its application is thereby incorporated by reference and made a part of the franchise agreement. In the event of a conflict between the application and the provisions of this chapter, that provision which provides the greatest benefit to the Town, in the opinion of the Town, shall prevail.
A. 
The public rights-of-way of the Town to be used by a grantee in the operation of its cable system within the boundaries of the Town of Galena are held in trust for the benefit of the citizens and taxpayers of the Town of Galena, and the grant of a franchise to a grantee is a valuable right without which a grantee would be required to invest substantial capital in right-of-way costs, acquisitions and maintenance. For this reason, a grantee shall pay to the Town an annual franchise fee not to exceed 5% of the grantee's gross revenue as defined herein. The franchise fee applicable to each franchise shall be specified in a franchise agreement.
B. 
The franchise fee shall be in addition to any other tax, fee or assessment of general applicability or payment owed to the Town by a grantee.
C. 
The franchise fee shall be paid on a quarterly basis and shall be due 45 days after the close of each calendar quarter, unless otherwise specified in a franchise agreement. Each payment shall be accompanied by a verified statement showing the basis for the computation and such other relevant factors as may be required by a franchise agreement.
D. 
The Town shall have the right, no more frequently than once every 12 months, to inspect a grantee's gross revenue records directly related to the calculation of the franchise fee and the right to audit and to recompute any amounts determined to be payable under this chapter upon 30 days' prior notice to the grantee. Any additional amount due to the Town as a result of the audit shall be paid within 30 days following written notice to the grantee by the Town, which notice shall include a copy of the audit report. Unless required by law, the Town shall not disclose to any third party (other than its financial advisors in their capacity as such) any financial information or other information that would reasonably be regarded as confidential that the Town gains access to in connection with the provisions of this subsection. A grantee's gross revenue records, when made available to the Town, shall not include subscriber-specific information.
E. 
If an audit review shows that any franchise fees have been underpaid, then a grantee shall pay the underpaid amount and monetary fines of 5% of the underpayment. If franchise fees have been underpaid by 10% or more, then a grantee shall also reimburse the Town for any reasonable additional expenses and costs incurred in connection with such underpayment.
F. 
A grantee shall not bundle its cable service with non-cable service so as to intentionally reduce or evade the imposition of the franchise fee.
G. 
Unless otherwise specified in a franchise agreement, if any franchise fee payment or recomputed amount, cost or penalty is not made on or before the applicable dates set forth in this chapter, interest shall be charged daily from such date at the maximum legal rate charged by the Internal Revenue Service for late tax payments, and a grantee shall reimburse the Town for reasonable additional expenses and costs incurred by reason of the delinquent payment(s).
A. 
For the purpose of operating and maintaining a cable system in the franchise area, a grantee may erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct and retain in, on, over, under, upon, across and along the public rights-of-way within the franchise area such wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, pedestals, attachments and other property and equipment as are necessary to the operation of the cable system; provided, however, that the grantee complies with all design, construction, safety, and performance provisions contained in this chapter, the franchise agreement, and other applicable law.
B. 
A grantee's cable 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 the rights or reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the public rights-of-way, or interfere with any improvements the Town may deem proper to make, or unnecessarily hinder or obstruct the free use of the public rights-of-way of the Town of Galena.
C. 
Before commencing construction in, above, over, under, across, through or in any way connected with the public rights-of-way (other than such public areas not under the Town's control), a grantee shall obtain all required permits (at the fees regularly charged therefor), including but not limited to the written approval of the Town, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. The Town may designate the location, manner and time of any construction within the public rights-of-way. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a grantee shall not be required to obtain a permit for individual drop connections to subscribers servicing or installing pedestals or instances of routine maintenance or minor repair to its cable system that do not disturb the surface grade or impact vehicular traffic.
D. 
In case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk, landscaping, driveway or other surfacing, including the surface of the public rights-of-way, caused by a grantee or any person acting on its behalf, the grantee shall, at its own cost and expense and in a manner and within a time frame approved by the Town, replace and restore all such paving, sidewalk, driveway, landscaping or other surface disturbed, to a condition comparable to that before the work was commenced and in accordance with standards for such work set by the Town.
E. 
A grantee or any other person acting on its behalf shall not open or otherwise disturb the surface of any public right-of-way for any purpose whatsoever without: i) obtaining approval to do so in the manner prescribed in Subsections C and D; and ii) obtaining all required street opening or other permits. A grantee shall be fully responsible for the actions and activities of its agents, employees and subcontractors and shall immediately respond to and rectify any complaint resulting from an activity of any such agent, employee or subcontractor.
F. 
A grantee shall restore any public right-of-way it has disturbed, and shall, at its own cost and expense, restore and replace any other property disturbed, damaged or in any way injured by or on account of its activities, to a condition comparable to the condition that said public right-of-way was in immediately prior to the disturbance, damage or injury.
G. 
A grantee shall, at its own cost and expense, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate in the same public right-of-way, or remove from said public right-of-way, any of its property when required to do so by the Town because of: street or other public excavation; construction; repair; regrading or grading; traffic conditions; installation of sewers, drains, or water pipes; Town-owned power or signal lines; tracks; vacation or relocation of streets or any other type of structure or improvement of a public agency; or any other type of improvement necessary for the public health, safety or welfare.
H. 
A grantee shall have the authority to trim trees within the public rights-of-way at its own expense as may be necessary to protect its wire and facilities, subject to the direction of the Town or any other appropriate governmental authority.
I. 
Erection, removal and common uses of poles:
(1) 
No poles or other wire-holding structures shall be erected by a grantee without prior approval of the Town with regard to location, height, types and any other pertinent aspect. However, no location of any pole or wire-holding structure of a grantee shall be a vested interest, and such poles or structures shall be removed or modified by the grantee at its own expense whenever the Town determines that the public health, safety and/or welfare may be enhanced thereby.
(2) 
Where poles or other wire-holding structures already existing for use in serving the Town are available for use by a grantee, but the grantee does not make arrangements for such use or an agreement thereof cannot be reached, the Town may require the grantee to use such poles and structures if it determines that the public convenience would be enhanced thereby, the use of such poles and structures is technically feasible and the terms of the use available to the grantee are just and reasonable.
(3) 
In the absence of any governing federal or state statute, where a public utility serving the Town desires to make use of the poles or other wire-holding structures of a grantee, but agreement thereof with the grantee cannot be reached, the Town may require the grantee to permit such use for such consideration and upon such terms as the Town shall determine to be just and reasonable, if the Town determines that the public convenience would be enhanced thereby and would not unduly interfere with the grantee's operations.
J. 
If, at any time during the term of a franchise, the Town shall lawfully elect to alter or change the grade of any public right-of-way and shall require all of the respective public utilities impacted by such alteration to remove or relocate their facilities, a grantee, upon reasonable notice by the Town, shall remove or relocate as necessary its poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes and other fixtures at its own expense unless the utilities are compensated, in which case the grantee shall be similarly compensated.
K. 
A grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a building or moving permit issued by the Town, temporarily raise or lower its wires to permit the moving of buildings. The person making the request shall provide the grantee at least 30 days' prior written notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes and pay the expense of such temporary removal, raising or lowering of wires, and a grantee shall have the authority to require such payment in advance.
L. 
The operations and activities of a grantee that impact public rights-of-way are further subject to the provisions of Article IX of the Charter of the Town of Galena (Public Ways and Sidewalks) and Chapter 150 (Streets and Sidewalks) of the Code of the Town of Galena, and any conflict between the provisions of this chapter and Chapter 150 of the Code and Article IX of the Charter shall be resolved in favor of the best interests of the Town.
A. 
The cable system construction timetable in an initial service area shall be established in a franchise agreement.
B. 
Unless otherwise provided for in a franchise agreement:
(1) 
In any franchise Area, a grantee shall be required to extend its cable system pursuant to the following requirements:
(a) 
No customer shall be refused service arbitrarily. A grantee may extend the cable system as necessary within the Town. To expedite the process of extending the cable system into a new subdivision, the Town will forward to a grantee an approved engineering plan of each such project. Subject to the applicable franchise density requirements, a grantee shall commence the design and construction process upon receipt of the final engineering plan. Upon notification from the Town that the first home in the project has been approved for a building permit, a grantee shall have a maximum of three months to complete the construction/activation process within the project meeting the density requirement; provided, however, that the three-month period shall be reasonably extended to accommodate delays caused by circumstances beyond the control of the grantee, including but not limited to make-ready procedures, weather conditions, and location of all underground utilities.
(b) 
A grantee must extend and make cable service available to every residential dwelling unit in all unserved, developing areas having at least 25 dwelling units per mile, as measured from the existing cable system. For purposes of this provision, "per mile" means within one mile, as measured in strand footage, from the nearest point of the cable system trunk or feeder line from which a usable cable signal is obtainable.
(c) 
A grantee shall connect all residential dwelling units that are within 125 feet of active feeder lines not otherwise already served by the cable system ("normal installation"). The grantee shall be allowed to recover, from any subscriber that requests such connection, the actual costs incurred for a residential dwelling unit connection that exceeds the distance of a normal installation.
(2) 
In areas not meeting the requirements for mandatory extension of service, a grantee shall provide, upon the request of a potential subscriber desiring service, an estimate of the costs required to extend service to the subscriber.
(3) 
In cases of new construction or property development where utilities are to be placed underground, the Town shall encourage the developer or property owner to give grantees reasonable prior written notice of such construction or development, and of the particular date on which open trenching will be available for the installation of grantee conduit, pedestals and/or vaults, and laterals to be provided at the expense of grantee.
(4) 
A grantee, in its application, may propose a line extension policy which will result in serving more residents of the Town of Galena than as required in this section, in which case such line extension policy shall be incorporated into a franchise agreement, and will be binding on the grantee.
C. 
Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a grantee from serving areas not covered under this section upon agreement with developers, property owners, or residents, provided that franchise fees are paid to the Town on those gross revenues.
A. 
A grantee shall construct, install, operate and maintain its cable system in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, construction standards, governmental requirements and FCC technical standards, as the same may be amended from time to time. In addition, a grantee shall provide the Town, upon request, with a written report of the results of the grantee's periodic proof of performance tests conducted pursuant to FCC standards and requirements.
B. 
Additional specifications:
(1) 
Construction, installation and maintenance of a cable system shall be performed in an orderly and workmanlike manner. All cables and wires shall be installed, where possible, parallel with electric and telephone lines in accordance with industry standards. Multiple cable configurations shall be arranged in parallel and bundled with due respect for engineering considerations.
(2) 
A grantee shall at all times comply with applicable provisions of the following:
(a) 
National Electrical Safety Code (National Bureau of Standards); National Electric Code (National Bureau of Fire Underwriters); Bell System Code of Pole Line Construction; and
(b) 
FCC and other federal, state and local regulations.
(3) 
In any event, a cable system shall not endanger or interfere with the safety of persons or property in a franchise area or other areas where a grantee may have equipment located.
(4) 
Any antenna structure used in the cable system shall comply with construction, marking and lighting of antenna structures, required by the United States Department of Transportation.
(5) 
All working facilities and conditions used during construction, installation and maintenance of the cable system shall comply with the applicable standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(6) 
RF leakage shall be checked at reception locations for emergency radio services to prove no interference signal combinations are possible. Stray radiation shall be measured adjacent to any proposed aeronautical navigation radio sites to prove no interference to airborne navigational reception in the normal flight patterns. FCC rules and regulations shall govern the foregoing requirements.
(7) 
A grantee shall maintain equipment capable of providing emergency standby power for the head end and transport cable system for a minimum of three hours, unless otherwise provided for in a franchise agreement.
(8) 
In all areas of the Town of Galena where the cables, wires and other like facilities of public utilities are placed underground, a grantee shall place its cables, wires and other like facilities underground, provided that such underground facilities are actually capable of accommodating the grantee's cable and other equipment without technical degradation of the cable system's signal quality.
C. 
A grantee's repeated and verified failure to maintain specified technical standards shall constitute a material franchise violation.
A grantee shall carry insurance in such forms and in such companies as specified in a franchise agreement.
A. 
Unless otherwise provided in a franchise agreement, a grantee shall obtain and maintain during the franchise term, at its sole cost and expense, a performance bond running to the Town with a surety company licensed to do business in the State of Maryland to ensure the grantee's faithful performance of its obligations under the franchise agreement. The performance bond shall provide that the Town may recover from the principal and surety any and all liquidated damages and/or compensatory damages incurred by the Town for the grantee's confirmed violations of the franchise agreement, after notice and opportunity to cure, in accordance with § 59-40 of this chapter. The form and amount of the performance bond shall be specified in the franchise agreement. A grantee shall not reduce, cancel or materially change said bond from the requirement contained herein without the express prior written permission of the Town.
B. 
In the event that a grantee shall undertake a construction or reconstruction project or series of projects that will necessitate significant and/or system-wide disruption of the public rights-of-way in the Town with respect to the cable system in an amount of $1,000,000 or more in any twelve-month period, the grantee shall notify the Town of the particulars thereof and the Town, in its reasonable discretion, shall have the right to demand that the grantee obtain a construction bond or other security with respect to said project in favor of the Town, in form and substance satisfactory to the Town, in its reasonable discretion.
C. 
Nothing herein shall be deemed a waiver of the normal permit and bonding requirements made of all contractors working within the Town's public rights-of-way or otherwise.
A. 
The Town shall not at any time be liable for injury or damage occurring to any person or property from any cause whatsoever arising out of the construction, maintenance, repair, use, operation, condition or dismantling of a grantee's cable system or due, in whole or in part, to the act or omission of any person other than the Town or those persons for which the Town is legally liable as a matter of law.
B. 
A grantee, under any franchise operated pursuant to this chapter, shall agree to indemnify, hold harmless, release and defend the Town, its officers, boards, commissions, agents and employees from and against any and all lawsuits, claims, causes of action, actions, liability, demands, damages, disability, losses, expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs or liabilities of any nature that may be asserted by any person resulting or in any manner arising from the action or inaction of the grantee in constructing, operating, maintaining, repairing or removing the cable system, in carrying on the grantee's business or operations in the Town or in exercising or failing to exercise any right or privilege granted by the franchise. This indemnity shall apply, without limitation, to any action or cause of action for invasion of privacy, defamation, antitrust, errors and omissions, theft, fire, violation or infringement of any copyright, trademark, trade names, service mark or patent, or any other right of any person, firm or corporation, whether or not any act or omission complained of is authorized, allowed or prohibited by this chapter or any franchise agreement, but shall not include any claim or action arising, in whole or in part, out of the actions or omissions of Town officers, employees or agents or related to any Town programming or other access programming for which the grantee is not legally responsible.
C. 
In the event any action or proceeding shall be brought against the Town or any of its officers, boards, commissions, agents or employees by reason of any matter for which the Town is indemnified hereunder, the grantee shall, upon timely notice from the Town, i.e., a period of time provided by law that allows the grantee to take action to avoid entry of a default judgment and does not prejudice the grantee's ability to defend the claim or action, and at the grantee's sole cost and expense, resist and defend the same; provided, however, that the grantee shall not admit liability in any such matter on behalf of the Town or any of its officers, boards, commissions, agents or employees without the written consent of the Town Attorney or the Town Attorney's designee.
D. 
The Town shall give a grantee prompt notice of the making of any claim or the commencement of any action, suit, or other proceeding subject to indemnification pursuant to this section. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent the Town from cooperating with a grantee and participating in the defense of any litigation through the Town Attorney.
E. 
Nothing in any franchise agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter shall be intended to express or imply a waiver of the statutory provisions, of any kind or nature, as set forth in state statutes, including the limits of liability of the Town as exists presently or may be amended from time to time.
A. 
A grantee shall not deny service or access or otherwise discriminate against subscribers, channel users, PEG users or any other citizen of the Town of Galena on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability or gender. A grantee shall comply at all times with all applicable laws relating to nondiscrimination, which are hereby incorporated and made part of this chapter by reference.
B. 
A grantee shall strictly adhere to the equal employment opportunity requirements of the FCC, federal, state and local regulations, as amended from time to time.
C. 
A grantee shall, at all times, comply with the privacy requirements of federal and state law.
D. 
A grantee is required to make all cable system services available to all residential dwellings and dwelling units throughout the franchise area which meet the minimum housing density requirements set forth herein and/or in a franchise agreement.
Minimum public notice of any public meeting relating to a franchise shall be made as prescribed by the Town.
A. 
A grantee shall fully cooperate in making available at reasonable times, and the Town shall have the right to inspect, where reasonably necessary to the enforcement of a franchise and upon reasonable prior written notice, books, records, reports, maps, plans and other like materials of the grantee directly applicable to the cable system in the Town. Such inspection shall take place at the local office of the grantee and during normal business hours.
B. 
The following records and/or reports are to be made available to the Town upon 30 days' prior written request:
(1) 
An annual review or progress report submitted by a grantee to the Town;
(2) 
Periodic preventive maintenance reports;
(3) 
Any copies of FCC Form 396-C, Multi-Channel Program Distributor EEO Program Annual Report (or successor form) or any supplemental forms related to equal opportunity or fair contracting policies;
(4) 
A record of monthly service calls which will indicate the nature of each service complaint received in the past 12 months, the date it was received, the disposition of said complaint, and the date thereof; and
(5) 
Periodic construction update reports, during that period of time a construction project is in progress, and/or the submission of strand maps, (i.e., maps showing the location of the cable system in relation to the streets and roadways in the Town).
C. 
Copies of all petitions, applications, communications and reports either submitted by a grantee to the FCC, Securities and Exchange Commission or any other federal or state regulatory commission or agency having jurisdiction in respect to any matters affecting cable service operations authorized pursuant to the franchise, or received from such agencies, shall be provided to the Town upon written request.
D. 
Upon written request, a grantee shall file annually with the Town, no later than 120 days after the end of the grantee's fiscal year, a copy of a gross revenues statement certified by an officer of the grantee.
A. 
Upon written request of not less than 30 days' prior written notice to a grantee, the Town may conduct evaluation and review sessions during the term of a franchise agreement, but not more than once every three years; provided, however, that special evaluation and review sessions may be held at any time during the franchise term at the request of the Town or a grantee.
B. 
All scheduled evaluation and review sessions shall be open to the public and announced in a newspaper of general circulation in accordance with legal notice standards applicable to public hearings. The Town, in its discretion, may also require a grantee to notify its subscribers of all such sessions by announcements on at least one channel of the cable system during a specified time frame preceding each session. If the Town has an operating PEG channel, such notices may be placed on the PEG channel unless otherwise directed by the Town. Topics that may be discussed at any evaluation and review session include, but are not limited to, franchise fee, penalties, rates, channel capacity, the cable system performance, programming, PEG access, the Town's uses of cable, subscriber complaints, line extension policy, application of new technologies, judicial rulings, FCC rulings and any other topics that directly relate to cable service.
C. 
During an evaluation and review session, a grantee shall fully cooperate with the Town and shall provide without cost such reasonable information and documents as the Town may request to perform the evaluation and review in accordance with applicable law.
D. 
As a result of an evaluation and review session, if the Town has reason to believe that a grantee violated any technical or customer service provision of the franchise agreement and/or applicable law, it shall notify the grantee in writing of the nature of such violation and the section of any franchise agreement or provision of law that it believes has been violated. The grantee shall then have 30 days to cure such violation after written notice is received by taking appropriate steps to comply. If the nature of the violation is such that, in the Town's reasonable judgment, it cannot be fully cured within 30 days due to circumstances outside of a grantee's control, the period of time in which the grantee must cure the violation may be extended by the Town in writing for such additional time necessary to complete the cure, provided that the grantee shall have promptly commenced to cure and is diligently pursuing its efforts to cure.
A. 
In any franchise agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter, the Town shall agree to timely advise a grantee of any request by any person, other than a Town official or Town employee in the performance of such Town official's or Town employee's duties, seeking to review or obtain such documents. In the event that the Town determines that such documents are disclosable under the Maryland Public Information Act ("MPIA"),[1] the Town shall timely advise the grantee and allow the grantee to challenge the disclosure of such documents at the grantee's own expense. If the grantee's challenge of the disclosure is unsuccessful, the grantee, in addition to its own expenses, shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Town, and its officials and employees, of and from all costs and damages related to the challenge, including reasonable attorneys' fees. If the Town determines that such documents are not disclosable under the MPIA, the Town shall not disclose such documents, shall advise the requester of the basis for such nondisclosure and requester's rights under the MPIA and shall advise timely the grantee of any challenge by the requester to such action.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 4-101 et seq. of the General Provisions Law of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
B. 
In any franchise agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter, a grantee and the Town shall each agree to provide the other, upon written request, with copies of all pleadings, court filings and nonprivileged correspondence relating to the defense of any action brought to disclose documents under the MPIA.
A. 
It shall be the right of all subscribers to continue receiving service, provided that their financial and other obligations to a grantee are honored. If the grantee elects to rebuild, modify or sell its cable system, or the Town gives notice of intent to terminate or fails to renew a franchise, the grantee shall act so as to ensure that all subscribers receive continuous, uninterrupted service regardless of the circumstances. If there is a change of franchise, or if a new operator acquires the cable system, a grantee shall cooperate with the Town, new grantee or operator in maintaining continuity of service to all subscribers. During this transition period, which shall not exceed 12 months, a grantee shall be entitled to the revenues for any period during which it operates the cable system, and shall be entitled to reasonable costs for its services until it no longer operates the cable system.
B. 
Unless otherwise provided for in the franchise agreement, if a grantee fails to operate a cable system for 14 consecutive days without prior approval of the Town or without just cause, the Town may, at its option, operate the cable system or designate an operator until such time as the grantee restores service under conditions acceptable to the Town or a permanent operator is selected. If the Town is required to fulfill this obligation for a grantee, the grantee shall reimburse the Town for all reasonable costs or damages in excess of revenues from the cable system received by the Town that are the result of the grantee's failure to perform.
A. 
The Town Administrator, or the Town Administrator's designee, is designated as having primary responsibility for the continuing administration of a franchise and implementation and oversight of complaint procedures.
B. 
Unless otherwise provided in the franchise agreement, a grantee shall maintain, during the term of a franchise and any renewal thereof, a central office for the purpose of receiving and resolving all complaints regarding the quality of service, equipment malfunctions, and similar matters. The office must be reachable by a local, toll-free telephone call and by electronic mail.
C. 
As subscribers are connected or reconnected to a grantee's cable system, the grantee shall, by appropriate means, such as a card, brochure or electronic mail, furnish information concerning the procedures for making inquiries or complaints, including the address, local telephone number and Internet website for customer service.
D. 
To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Town shall have the right and authority to require a grantee to test, analyze and report on the performance of its cable system, provided that the Town shall not require a grantee to test the cable system as a whole, or any specific part thereof, more than once during any calendar year, unless a test shows that the cable system or such a specific part fails to meet relevant performance specifications. A grantee shall fully cooperate with the Town in performing such testing and shall prepare results and a report, if requested, within 45 days after notice.
(1) 
Such report shall include the following information:
(a) 
The nature of the complaint or problem which precipitated the tests;
(b) 
What cable system component was tested;
(c) 
The equipment used and procedures employed in testing;
(d) 
The method, if any, in which such complaint or problem was resolved; and
(e) 
Any other information pertinent to the tests and analysis which may be required.
(2) 
A grantee's periodic proof of performance tests conducted pursuant to FCC standards and requirements may satisfy a test or report required by the Town under this section.
(3) 
The Town may require an independent review of a performance test, with the independent reviewer selected by the Town to review the cable system in cooperation with a grantee. Should such a test prove that the grantee failed to meet a technical standard, the grantee shall bear the cost of such independent observer. Should such a test prove that the grantee met the technical standard(s), the Town shall bear the cost of such test.