[R.O. 2011 § 670.690; R.O. 2009
§ 111.110; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
The City shall be responsible for
the continued administration of this Chapter and all franchise agreements.
The City may delegate this authority from time to time in any manner
consistent with applicable law.
[R.O. 2011 § 670.700; R.O. 2009
§ 111.111; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
A grantee shall not be relieved of
its obligation to comply with any of the provisions of this Chapter
or a franchise agreement adopted pursuant to this Chapter by reason
of any failure of the City to enforce prompt compliance.
[R.O. 2011 § 670.710; R.O. 2009
§ 111.112; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
A.
The grantee shall establish procedures
for receiving, acting upon and resolving customer complaints and crediting
customer accounts in accordance with "Schedule A: Credits to Customers"
and as otherwise provided herein without intervention by the grantor.
Such procedures prescribe the manner in which any subscriber may submit
a complaint by telephone or in writing to the grantee that it has
violated any provision of these customer service standards, any terms
or conditions of the customer's contract with the grantee or reasonable
business practices.
1.
The grantee's complaint procedure
shall be filed with the grantor prior to its acceptance of the franchise.
2.
The grantee's investigation of a
subscriber complaint shall be concluded in no more than fifteen (15)
business days after receiving the complaint, at which time the grantee
shall notify the subscriber of the results of its investigation and
its proposed action or credit. In the case of a billing dispute, a
grantee must respond to a subscriber's telephone inquiry about their
bill within three (3) business days.
3.
The grantee shall also notify the
subscriber of his/her rights to file a complaint with the grantor
in the event the subscriber is dissatisfied with the grantee's decision
and shall thoroughly explain the necessary procedures for filing such
complaints with the grantor.
4.
The grantee shall report all subscriber
complaints that it does not find valid to the grantor. The grantor
will review all complaints against grantee regarding quality of service,
equipment malfunctions, billing disputes, property damage and matters
included under Schedule A, at such time when a subscriber is dissatisfied
with a proposed decision by the grantee or when a subscriber has not
received a decision within the time allotted under Subsection (B)
of this Section. The subscriber may initiate the review either by
calling the grantor or by filing a written complaint together with
the grantee's written decision, if any, with the grantor. The subscriber
shall make such filing and notification within twenty (20) days of
receipt of grantee's decision or if no decision was provided, within
thirty (30) days after filing the original complaint with the grantee.
5.
If the grantor decides that further
evidence is warranted, the grantor shall require the grantee and the
subscriber to submit, within ten (10) days of notice thereof, a written
statement of facts and arguments in support of their respective positions.
The grantee and subscriber shall produce any additional evidence,
which the grantor may deem necessary to an understanding and determination
of the complaint.
6.
The grantor shall issue a determination
within fifteen (15) days after examining the materials submitted,
setting forth the basis for determination. The grantor may extend
the time limits for reasonable cause and may intercede and attempt
to negotiate an informal resolution.
7.
If the grantor determines that the
subscriber's complaint is valid and that the grantee did not provide
the subscriber with the proper solution and/or credit, the grantor
may reverse any decision by the grantee in the matter and/or require
the grantee to grant a specific solution as determined by the grantor
in its sole discretion and/or provide the subscriber with the amount
of the credit as set forth in Schedule A.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedule A is included as an attachment to
this Chapter.
[R.O. 2011 § 670.720; R.O. 2009
§ 111.113; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
A.
Whenever grantor has reason to believe
that a grantee has violated any provision of a franchise agreement
or this Chapter, including the customer service and telephone availability
requirements, grantor shall first notify the grantee in writing of
the violation and demand correction within a reasonable time, which
shall not be less than thirty (30) days. If a grantee fails to demonstrate
to the reasonable satisfaction of grantor that no violation exists
or if grantee fails to correct the violation within the time prescribed
or if a grantee is unable to correct the violation and fails to commence
corrective action within the time prescribed and to diligently remedy
such violation thereafter, the grantee shall then be given written
notice of not less than thirty (30) days of a public hearing to be
held before the Council. Said notice shall indicate with reasonable
specificity the violation alleged to have occurred. This procedure
shall apply to all alleged franchise violations, including those in
which grounds for revocation are considered.
B.
At the public hearing, the Council shall
hear and consider all relevant evidence and thereafter render findings
and a decision based upon the evidence.
C.
In the event the City finds that a grantee has corrected the violation or promptly commenced correction of such violation after notice thereof from grantor and is diligently proceeding to fully remedy the violation or that no violation has occurred, the proceedings shall terminate and no penalty or other sanction shall be imposed, except as provided for in Subsection (H) of this Section.
D.
In the event the City finds that a violation
exists and that a grantee has not corrected the same in a satisfactory
manner or did not promptly commence and diligently proceed to correct
the violation, the City may impose penalties and/or liquidated damages
from the security fund as follows:
1.
For system construction schedule
violations, including, but not limited to, provisions relating to
initial construction schedules and system upgrade construction schedule,
five hundred dollars ($500.00) per day of non-compliance;
2.
For all other violations, two hundred
fifty dollars ($250.00) per day per violation.
E.
If grantor elects to assess penalties or
liquidated damages, then such election shall constitute grantor's
exclusive remedy for a period of sixty (60) days. Thereafter, if a
grantee remains in non-compliance, the grantor may pursue any other
available remedy, including franchise revocation.
F.
In the event that a franchise is canceled
or terminated by reason of the default of a grantee, the security
fund deposited pursuant to a franchise agreement shall remain in effect
and available to the grantor until all pending claims or penalties
are resolved or settled, after which point any remaining amounts in
the security fund shall revert to the possession of the grantee.
G.
The rights reserved to grantor with respect
to the security fund are in addition to all other rights of grantor,
whether reserved by a franchise agreement, this Chapter or authorized
by law and no action, proceeding or exercise of a right with respect
to such security fund shall affect any other right grantor may have.
H.
The foregoing provisions shall not be deemed
to preclude the grantor from obtaining any other available remedies
for repeated violations of the same general type, whether remedied
or not.
[R.O. 2011 § 670.730; R.O. 2009
§ 111.114; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
A.
In addition to any rights in this Chapter
or a franchise agreement, grantor reserves the right to utilize the
above described enforcement procedure to revoke the franchise and
all rights and privileges pertaining thereto, in the event that any
of the following occur and the City and grantee are not able to mutually
agree upon a cure or alternate remedy:
[R.O. 2011 § 670.740; R.O. 2009
§ 111.115; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
A.
Upon the imposition of a penalty or revocation
decision, a grantee shall have a period of one hundred twenty (120)
days subsequent to the date of the formal adoption of the decision
by the City Council within which to file an appeal with a court of
competent jurisdiction.
B.
During any such appeal period, the franchise
shall remain in full force and effect.
[R.O. 2011 § 670.750; R.O. 2009
§ 111.116; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
Any dispute arising with respect
to this Chapter, or a franchise agreement granted pursuant to it,
shall be subject to review by the State and Federal courts sitting
in Saint Charles County, Missouri.
[R.O. 2011 § 670.760; R.O. 2009
§ 111.117; Ord. No. 01-125, 6-20-2001]
If any Section, sentence, phrase,
provision, paragraph or term of this Chapter or a franchise granted
hereunder is held void or otherwise rendered unenforceable by any
court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be deemed severable
from this Chapter and the franchise agreement and the remainder of
this Chapter and the franchise agreement shall continue in full force
and effect. Nothing in this Section, however, shall be deemed to limit
the grantor or a grantee's ability to assert any claim regarding the
enforceability of this Chapter or the terms of a franchise agreement
on grounds other than that the provision at issue is not severable,
including claims of failure of consideration.
