[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Upper Hanover 12-19-1974 by Ord. No. 74-5.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
When used in this chapter, unless the context
requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Programming carried on a cable television system.
Any facility that, in whole or in part, receives, directly
or indirectly over the air, by electrical impulses using coaxial cables,
and amplifies or otherwise modifies the signals transmitting programs
broadcast by one or more television or radio stations and distributes
such signals by wire or cable to subscribing members of the public
who pay for such service.
A corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or any other
commercial entity or individual that seeks to cablecast within the
Township of Upper Hanover.
No company without the approval of the Township
of Upper Hanover and the decision of its Board of Supervisors granting
said company a franchise may use the poles, wires and cables over,
under and upon the streets, sidewalks, alleys, bridges and highways
and other public places in the Township for cablecasting or the establishment
of a cable television system. Said Township approval and granting
of a franchise is conditioned upon a company's compliance with the
following terms and requisites:
A.
The poles or cables must be used exclusively for transmission
of audio and/or visual images by means of electric impulses to television
receivers in the Township of Upper Hanover.
B.
No poles may be erected without the consent of the
Township of Upper Hanover, and the decision of its Board of Supervisors
relative thereto shall be final; provided, however, that any poles
erected by a company shall be available to the Township for any lawful
use so long as said use does not interfere with the Board's or company's
use.
C.
Cables shall be installed underground when present
underground conduits exist, and all installations by a company of
poles and cables and all other facilities relative to its operation
shall be in accordance with good engineering practice and shall comply
with all existing Township ordinances and regulations of all state
and federal laws and regulations and will conform with standards of
the National Electrical Safety Codes. The poles, cables or wires shall
not interfere in any manner with the right of the public or any individual
private property owner and shall not interfere with travel or use
of public places by the public during the construction, repair or
removal, and shall not obstruct or impede traffic.
D.
The cable television system shall be installed and
maintained in accordance with accepted standards of the industry,
to the effect that subscribers shall receive the highest accepted
service.
E.
Receiving equipment, distribution lines and related
electronic components shall be installed and maintained in a good
workmanlike manner.
F.
The cable television system shall be capable of delivering
NTSC color and monochrome signals to standard EIA television receivers,
both color and monochrome, and FM radio receivers, without modification
or other attachments, except those modifications or attachments that
would be required to make more than 12 VHF channels receivable. The
signals shall be distributed to the receiving sets of individual subscribers
without noticeable degradation of color fidelity, picture intelligence,
audio distortion or cross-channel interference.
G.
The cable television system shall have a minimum of
twenty-one-channel capability and shall include the following:
(1)
The cable television system shall be capable of furnishing
subscribers in the Township with a minimum of 12 television signals;
(2)
Five channels for program orientations shall be made
available free of charge or monthly service to such five public buildings
situated within the Township as the Township may select. Examples
of such public buildings are public schools, police stations, firehouses,
and Township buildings;
(3)
A channel for time, news and weather shall be provided
by the company; and
(4)
One channel for local origination programming shall
be provided by the company for programming by the company.
H.
The company shall render efficient service and make
all necessary repairs promptly.
I.
The company shall maintain an office in the Township
which shall be open during all usual business hours, have a listed
telephone, and be so operated that complaints and requests for repairs
or adjustments may be received.
J.
The company shall at all times comply with each and
all rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission,
including, but not limited to, those rules and regulations affecting
the carriage of television and radio signals, nonduplication of programs
broadcast by local stations, use of distant-stations signals, systems
originations, advertising and other matters which may be determined
from time to time by the Federal Communication Commission.
K.
The company may enter into an agreement with any person
or corporation, including the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia Electric Company and the Pennsylvania Power and Light
Company, now authorized to erect poles, overhead wires or cables and
underground wires or cables for the purpose of sharing these facilities,
subject to all existing and future ordinances and regulations of the
Township.
L.
As an ordinance fee during the term of the rights
granted hereunder, so long as the company operates said system, the
company shall pay to the Township, at the time hereinafter specified,
a sum equal to 3% of its annual gross receipts. Said ordinance fee
is to include the gross revenue, including installation charges and
all service fees, derived from the company's cablecasting within the
Township. The ordinance fee due hereunder shall be paid annually within
90 days after the 31st day of December of each year subsequent to
the commencement of service operation within the Township. Further,
within 90 days after the 31st day of December of each year subsequent
to the commencement of service, the company will provide the Township
with a certified statement by a duly recognized certified public accountant
specifically as to the gross revenues and other charges and fees received
within the Township. If any governmental regulatory body having jurisdiction
over the charges and fees received and paid by the company authorizes
an annual fee in excess of the hereinabove-described ordinance fee
to the Township or any local governmental body, the company will pay
the larger authorized fee to the Township from the time when the larger
fee is authorized.
M.
A franchise granted by this chapter is nonexclusive,
and nothing contained herein shall prevent the granting of additional
franchises to any other person or corporation upon the terms and conditions
set forth in this chapter. A franchise granted shall be for a period
of 20 years from the date of approval of said franchise by the Township.
If substantial construction of the approved facilities are not commenced
by the company within five years from the date of the granting of
the franchise, all rights granted to the company herein shall cease
and terminate. At the end of the expiration of the term granted hereinabove
or any extension thereof, should the Township not elect to exercise
its rights contained hereunder, the franchise granted herein shall
be automatically extended for an additional term of five years, and
each extension thereafter shall be for a term of five years.
N.
At the end of the term of the franchise given or at
five-year intervals during any extension of the original term of said
franchise, the Township of Upper Hanover, at its election, shall have
the right to terminate the franchise of the company granted herein
and to purchase and take possession of all the property and assets
of the company connected with this system and located within the Township
of Upper Hanover; should the Township so elect, the company shall
then sell and convey the same to the Township of Upper Hanover upon
the Township paying it just and fair compensation therefor, which
compensation, if the parties cannot agree within six months after
the date of notice of the election by the Township, shall be determined
by an arbitration board to be composed of three disinterested members,
one appointed by the company, one by the Township and the third by
the other two members, and the decision of the Board shall be final
and binding. Notice of election of the Township shall be given to
the company at least one year prior to the termination of the original
term or prior to the expiration of any five-year extension thereof,
in writing, by registered mail, to the Township office of the company.[1]
O.
Should the company fail to comply with any of the terms of the ordinance, then, in addition to any other notice of Township given herein, the Township shall give written notice to the company of such failure to comply and if such failure to comply has not been rectified within 30 days of such written notice, the Township shall have at its option, the right to revoke the franchise granted to the company in this chapter. Should the Township so elect to revoke the franchise, it shall have the right to purchase and take possession of all the property and assets of the company connected with the cable television system in the manner provided for purchase in Subsection N herein, provided that the election to purchase by the Township upon revocation shall be made at the same time notice of revocation shall satisfy all notice requirements set forth in Subsection N. Should the Township elect to revoke the franchise, but not to exercise its right to purchase cable television system as provided hereinabove, then the company shall have 180 days within which to sell, transfer and assign its system and the franchise granted hereto to another company, not connected directly or indirectly with the franchisee or its principal stockholders. Said sale, transfer or assignment is subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Upper Hanover.[2]
P.
No poles, cables, equipment or wires shall be installed
or the installation thereof commenced until the proposed location
of such poles, cables, equipment and wires shall have been set forth
upon a plan or map showing the streets, alleys, highways, or public
facilities within the Township whereon such installations are proposed
and submitted to the Board of Supervisors for approval by it or its
designated officials.
(1)
In the event that a change is made in the grade of
public streets, alleys, avenues and grounds by authority of the Township
which shall necessitate the removal of any poles, wires, transmission
and distribution lines to conform to the change of grade, the company
shall make the necessary changes in its line at its own expense, upon
due notice from said Board of Supervisors or said designated official
to do so.
(2)
The company's transmission and distribution system,
poles, wires and appurtenances shall be located, erected and maintained
so as not to endanger or interfere with the lives of persons or to
interfere with new improvements the Township may deem proper to make
or to unnecessarily hinder or obstruct the free use of the streets,
alleys, bridges or other public property; removal of poles to avoid
such interference will be at the company's expense.
Q.
The company shall, at its expense, protect, support,
temporarily disconnect, relocate on the same street, alley or public
place or remove from the street, alley or public place any property
of the company when required by the Township by reason of the traffic
conditions, public safety, street vacation, freeway and street construction,
change or establishment of street grade, installation of sewer, drains,
water pipes, power lines, signal lines and tracks of any other types
of structures or improvements by governmental agencies when acting
in a governmental or proprietary capacity or other structures of public
improvements; provided, however, that the company shall in all cases
have the privilege and be subject to the obligations to abandon any
property of the company in place, as provided hereinafter.
R.
In the event that the use of any part of the cable
television system installed is discontinued for any reason by the
company for a continuous period of six months, causing a cessation
of service to subscribers of the cable television system, or in the
event such cable television system's property has been installed in
any street or public place without complying with requirements of
this chapter, the company shall remove from the streets and public
places all such parts of the system other than any which the Township
may request to be abandoned in place. In the event of any such removal,
the company shall restore the property in the area from which such
removal occurred to a condition satisfactory to the Township.
S.
The company shall grant to the Township, free of expense,
joint use of any and all poles owned by it for any proper municipal
purpose insofar as it may be done without interfering with the free
use and enjoyment of the company's own wires and fixtures.
T.
Indemnification.
(1)
The company shall indemnify, protect and save harmless
the Township from and against losses and physical damages to property
and bodily injury or death to persons, including payments made under
any workmen's compensation law which may arise out of or be caused
by the erection, maintenance, presence or use or removal of attachments
on poles by the company within the Township or by any act of the company,
its agents or employees. The company shall carry insurance to protect
the Township from and against all claims, demands, actions, judgments,
costs, expenses and liabilities which may arise or result, directly
or indirectly, from or by reason of such loss, injury or damage. The
amounts of such insurance against liability due to physical damages
to property shall not be less than $100,000 as to any one accident
and not less than $200,000 aggregate in any single policy year, and
against liability due to bodily injury or to death of persons not
less than $300,000 as to any one person and no less than $600,000
as to any one accident. The company shall also carry such insurance
as it deems necessary to protect it from all claims under the workmen's
compensation laws in effect that may be applicable to the company.
Within 30 days after the effective date of this chapter, the company
shall furnish the Township with certified copies of all of its insurance
policies evidencing that the company is carrying the minimum insurance
coverage as provided herein. At least once a year during the years
following the adoption of this chapter, the company shall furnish
the Township with certificates of insurance evidencing the continued
required coverage hereunder, and whenever the company makes any changes
in its insurance policies or companies, certified copies of said new
policies shall be delivered to the Township promptly.
(2)
The company shall indemnify, protect and save the
Township harmless from and against any liability or responsibility
to the holder of any copyright which the Township shall at any time
sustain or incur by reason of or in consequence of the exercise by
the company of any right or privilege granted to the company by this
chapter or which the Township may sustain or incur in connection with
any litigation incident to the incurring or sustaining of such liability
or responsibility arising out of or in connection with the exercise
by the company of any right or privilege granted to the company by
this chapter.
U.
Should the company at any time fail to comply with
any terms and provisions of this chapter within a reasonable time
after receiving written notice from the Township, upon 30 days' notice
thereof, the company shall cease its operations and remove any and
all wires, cables or poles installed by it pursuant to this authorization.
In addition, the Township may proceed to take appropriate legal action
to collect any sums due it on account of unpaid ordinance fees and
may proceed in law or equity to enforce any and all of the provisions
of this chapter.
V.
Privileges granted by an approved franchise shall
not be exercised until the company agrees in writing.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof in a civil enforcement
proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and the
costs of prosecution, provided that each day's violation of any of
the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.
