[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of
Hagerstown 9-30-2014 by Ord. No. O-14-16. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Ch. 70, Cable Television and Open
Video Systems, adopted 5-30-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-26, was repealed
5-27-2014 by Ord. No. O-14-08.
This chapter shall constitute the "Cable System Ordinance" of
the City of Hagerstown and may be referred to as such.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words, terms,
phrases and their derivations have the meanings given herein. When
not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense
include the future tense, words in the singular number include the
plural number and words in the plural number include the singular
number.
Any person or entity that applies for an initial franchise.
The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, as amended by
the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992
and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and as any of them may be
amended.
Any person or group of persons, including a franchisee, who
provides cable service over a cable system and directly or through
one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such cable system
or who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement,
the management and operation of such a cable system.
The one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming
or other programming service, and subscriber interaction, if any,
which is required for the selection or use of such video programming
or other programming service.
Any facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission
paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment
that is designed to provide cable service which includes video programming
and which is provided to multiple subscribers within a community,
but such term does not include A) a facility that serves only to retransmit
the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;
B) a facility that serves subscribers without using any public right-of-way;
C) a facility of a common carrier which is subject, in whole or in
part, to the provisions of Subchapter II of Chapter 5 of the Federal
Communications Act (47 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), except that
such facility shall be considered a cable system {other than for purposes
of 47 U.S.C. § 621(c) [47 U.S.C. § 541(c)]} to
the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming
directly to subscribers, unless the extent of such use is solely to
provide interactive on-demand services; D) an open video system that
complies with federal statutes; or E) any facilities of any electric
utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems.
The City of Hagerstown, a municipal corporation of the State
of Maryland, and all of the area within its boundaries, as such may
change from time to time.
The Hagerstown City Council, or its successor, the governing
body of the City.
An agreement that authorizes a person or entity to construct,
operate, maintain or reconstruct a cable system. Upon the written
acceptance by a franchisee, the agreement constitutes a contract between
the City and franchisee.
The person, firm, corporation or entity to whom or which
a franchise, as hereinabove defined, is granted by the City Council
under this chapter and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee
of said person, firm, corporation or entity.
All of the following which have been dedicated to the public
or are hereafter dedicated to the public and maintained under public
authority or by others and are located within the City: streets, roadways,
highways, avenues, lanes, alleys, bridges, sidewalks, easements and
similar public property and areas.
Any person who or which elects to subscribe to, for any purpose,
cable service provided by a franchisee by means of or in connection
with the cable system and whose premises are physically wired and
lawfully activated to receive cable service from the franchisee's
cable system.
It is unlawful to engage in or commence construction, operation,
or maintenance of a cable system in the City without a franchise issued
under this chapter. The City Council may, by ordinance, issue a nonexclusive
franchise to construct, operate and maintain a cable system within
all or any portion of the City to any person or entity, whether operating
under an existing franchise or not, who applies for authority to furnish
cable service which complies with the terms and conditions of this
chapter, and provided that such person or entity also agrees to comply
with all of the provisions of the franchise. However, this shall not
be deemed to require the grant of a franchise to any particular person
or entity. The City Council may restrict the number of franchisees
should it determine such a restriction would be in the public interest.
A franchise granted by the City under the provisions of this
chapter shall:
A.Â
Permit
the franchisee to engage in the business of operating a cable system
and providing cable service within the City;
B.Â
Permit
the franchisee to erect, install, construct, repair, rebuild, reconstruct,
replace, maintain and retain cable lines, related electronic equipment,
supporting structures, appurtenances and other property in connection
with the operation of the cable system in, on, over, under, upon,
along and across rights-of-way within the City;
C.Â
Permit
the franchisee to maintain and operate said cable system for the origination,
reception, transmission, amplification and distribution of cable television
signals and for the delivery of cable service; and
D.Â
Set forth the obligations of the franchisee under the franchise.
Any franchise granted pursuant to this chapter shall be nonexclusive
and not preclude the City from granting other or future franchises
or permits or preclude the City from using any rights-of-way or other
public properties or affect its jurisdiction over them or any part
of them, or limit the full power of the City to make all necessary
changes, as the City in its sole discretion shall decide, including
the dedication, establishment, maintenance and improvements of all
rights-of-way and thoroughfares and other public properties of any
type.
A.Â
An
applicant for an initial franchise shall submit to the City a written
application in a format provided by the City, at the time and place
specified by the City for accepting applications, and accompanied
by the designated application fee. An application fee in the amount
of $25,000 shall accompany the application to cover costs associated
with processing the application, including, without limitation, costs
of administrative review, financial, legal and technical evaluation
of the applicant, the costs of consultants, notice and publication
requirements, and document preparation expenses. In the event such
costs exceed the application fee, the applicant shall pay the difference
to the City within 30 days following receipt of an itemized statement
of such costs. Conversely, if such costs are less than the application
fee, the City shall refund the difference to the applicant.
B.Â
Contents;
follow-up.
(1)Â
An application for an initial franchise for a cable system shall
contain, at a minimum:
(a)Â
A statement as to the proposed franchise and information relating
to the characteristics and location of the proposed system;
(b)Â
A resume of prior history of the applicant, including the expertise
of the applicant in the cable system field;
(c)Â
Information demonstrating the applicant's legal, technical
and financial ability to construct and operate the proposed system;
(d)Â
A list of the partners, general and limited, of the applicant,
if a partnership, members, if a limited liability company, or the
percentage of stock owned or controlled by each stockholder having
a five-percent or greater interest, if a corporation;
(e)Â
A list of officers, directors and key employees of the applicant,
together with a description of the background of all such persons;
(f)Â
The names and addresses of any parent entity or subsidiary of
the applicant or any other business entity owning or controlling the
applicant in whole or in part, or owned or controlled in whole or
in part by the applicant;
(g)Â
A proposed construction and service schedule;
(h)Â
Any other reasonable information that the City may request.
(2)Â
The City shall be allowed the opportunity to ask relevant follow-up
questions and obtain further information from whatever source. A refusal
by an applicant to cooperate or provide requested information is sufficient
grounds for the City to deny an application.
C.Â
Consideration of initial franchise.
(1)Â
Upon receipt of an application for an initial franchise and after
obtaining any additional information the City in its sole discretion
deems appropriate from any source, a public hearing shall be scheduled
to allow public comment. At the public hearing, the City Council shall
receive public comment regarding the following:
(a)Â
Public benefit: whether the public will benefit from granting
a franchise to the applicant;
(b)Â
Qualifications: whether the applicant appears to have adequate
legal, financial and technical qualifications and capabilities to
build, operate and maintain a cable system in the City;
(c)Â
No conflicting interests: whether the applicant has any conflicting
interests, either financial or commercial, that will be contrary to
the interests of the City;
(d)Â
Compliance with franchise and local laws: whether the applicant
will comply with all of the terms and conditions placed upon a franchisee
by the franchise, this chapter, customer service standards and other
applicable local laws and regulations;
(e)Â
Compliance with other requirements: whether the applicant will
comply with all relevant federal and state laws and regulations pertaining
to the construction, operation and maintenance of the cable system.
D.Â
Within 60 days after the close of the hearing, the City Council shall
decide whether to grant a franchise and on what conditions. The City
Council's decision shall be based upon the application, any additional
information submitted by the applicant or obtained by the City from
any source, and public comments. The City Council may grant one or
more franchises, or may decline to grant any franchise.
No franchise shall relieve a franchisee of any of its obligations
in obtaining pole or conduit agreements from any department of the
City, from any utility company, or from others maintaining facilities
in the rights-of-way.
A franchisee shall comply with and obtain, at its own expense,
all permits, licenses and other authorizations required by federal,
state and local laws, rules, regulations and applicable resolutions
and ordinances which are now existing or hereafter lawfully adopted.
In addition to the inherent powers of the City to regulate and
control any franchise it issues, the authority granted to it by the
Cable Act, and those powers expressly reserved by the City, or agreed
to and provided for in a franchise, the right and power is reserved
by the City to promulgate such additional rules and regulations as
it may find necessary in the exercise of its lawful powers and in
furtherance of the terms and conditions of a franchise and this chapter,
and as permitted by applicable state and federal law.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all cable operators
and cable systems to the greatest extent permissible under applicable
law.
