[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Chatham 9-27-2003 by Ord. No. 03-13. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
For the purpose of this ordinance, the terms
defined above[1] shall have the meanings there indicated, and the following
additional terms shall have the following meanings:
That statute of the State of New Jersey relating to cable
television, known as the "Cable Television Act," N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1
et seq., enacted as Chapter 186 of the General Laws of New Jersey,
1972, and subsequent amendments thereto.
The application for renewal of municipal consent, which application
is on file in the Borough Clerk's office and is incorporated herein
by reference and made a part hereof, except as modified, changed,
limited or altered by the ordinance.
The Board of Public Utilities of the State of New Jersey
or its successor agency.
The governing body of the Borough of Chatham in the County
of Morris and the State of New Jersey.
CSC TKR, Inc., the grantee of rights under this ordinance,
and includes the successors and/or assigns of Cablevision or Cablevision
of Morris.
A facility consisting of antennae, wire, co-axial cable,
amplifiers, towers, microwave links, wave guide laser beams, optical
fibers, optical transmitters and receivers, satellite receive/transmit
antennae, and/or equipment designed and constructed for the purpose
of producing, receiving, amplifying, storing, processing, or distributing
audio, video, digital or other forms of electronic, electromagnetic,
optical or electrical signals.
The Federal Communications Commission.
That federal statute relating to cable communications commonly
known as the "Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984," 47 U.S.C.
§ 521 et seq. and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, or
as those statutes may be amended.
Those federal regulations relating to cable television services,
47 CFR 76.1 et seq. (and, to the extent applicable, any other federal
rules and regulations relating to cable television, including but
not limited to those described in 47 CFR 76.3), or as such regulations
may be amended.
Those regulations of the State of New Jersey Board of Public
Utilities relating to cable television, N.J.A.C. 14:17-1.1 et seq.
and N.J.A.C. 14:18-1.1 et seq., or as such regulations may be amended.
[1]
Editor's Note: The “terms defined above” refers to the terms defined in the preamble to the ordinance, which preamble is not printed in this chapter. The term defined in the preamble was "CSC TKR, Inc. ('Cablevision') d/b/a Cablevision of Morris." See the definition of “Cablevision” in § A324-1 of this chapter.
The Borough hereby grants to Cablevision its
nonexclusive consent to place in, upon, along, across, over and under
the highways, streets, alleys, sidewalks, public ways, and public
places in the Borough poles, wires, cables and fixtures necessary
for the maintenance and operation in the Borough of a cable system.
This renewal of the franchise is subject to the terms and conditions
of this ordinance and upon conditions that Cablevision accepts the
provisions of this ordinance and confirms in writing that it shall
comply therewith and with the commitments included in its application.
A public hearing concerning the consent herein
granted to Cablevision was held after proper public notice pursuant
to the terms and conditions of the Act. Said hearing having been held
and fully open to the public, and the municipality having received
all comments regarding the qualifications of Cablevision to receive
this consent, the Borough hereby finds Cablevision possesses the necessary
legal, technical, character, financial and other qualifications to
support municipal consent, and that Cablevision's operating and construction
arrangements are adequate and feasible.
This consent granted herein shall be nonexclusive
and shall be for a term of 10 years commencing with the date of final
passage of this ordinance.
If Cablevision seeks successive consent, it
shall, prior to the expiration of this consent, apply for a municipal
consent and certificate of approval in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:5A-11
and N.J.S.A. 48:5A-16, and applicable state and federal rules and
regulations. Cablevision shall also petition the Board for approval
authorizing continued operation during the period following expiration
of the consent granted herein, and until such a time that a decision
is made by the Borough relative to the renewal of said consent.
The Borough may undertake a review of Cablevision's
performance of its obligations under this franchise at any time as
provided for in state law. Upon the reasonable written request of
the Borough, Cablevision and the Borough's designee shall meet at
least annually to review matters relating to cable system services
in the Borough.
The consent granted under this ordinance to
Cablevision shall apply to the entirety of the Borough of Chatham
and any property hereafter annexed.
Cablevision shall, subject to § A324-9 below, be required to proffer video programming service along any public right-of-way to any person's residence within the portion of the franchise territory, as described in the application for municipal consent, at tariff rates for standard and nonstandard installation.
Cablevision shall extend service along any public
right of way outside its existing service area to those residences
within the franchise territory which are located in areas that have
a residential density of 25 homes per mile or greater, or areas with
less than 25 homes per mile where residents agree to share the costs
of such extension in accordance with the line extension formula as
provided by Cablevision in its application for municipal consent.
A.
Restoration. In the event that Cablevision or its
agents shall disturb any pavement, street surfaces, sidewalks, driveways
or other surfaces in the natural topography, Cablevision shall at
its sole expense restore and replace such places or things so disturbed
in as good condition as existed prior to the commencement of said
work.
B.
Relocation. If at any time during the period of this
consent, the Borough shall alter or change the grade of any street,
alley or other way or place, Cablevision upon reasonable notice by
the Borough shall remove, re-lay and relocate its equipment at the
expense of Cablevision. Cablevision shall temporarily move or relocate
appropriate parts of its facilities to allow moving of buildings,
machinery or in other similar circumstances with reasonable notice.
Said notice shall not be less than 14 days before commencement. The
expense shall be borne by the party requesting said service.
C.
Removal and trimming of trees. During the exercise
of its rights and privileges under this franchise, Cablevision shall
have the authority to trim trees upon and overhanging streets, alleys,
sidewalks and public places of the Borough, so as to prevent, but
only to prevent, the branches of such trees from coming into contact
with the wires and cables of Cablevision. Such trimmings shall be
only to the extent necessary to maintain proper clearance for Cablevision's
facilities, and except during an emergency no trees shall be removed
or destroyed without prior consent of the Borough.
D.
Cablevision shall be governed by the applicable technical
standards established for the cable industry by the FCC and the Board.
E.
Cablevision shall be governed by the customer service
standards as established for the cable industry by the FCC and the
Board as may be amended throughout the term of this ordinance. The
customer service practices as well as the consumer responsiveness,
technical performance, and financial and reporting requirements governing
Cablevision promulgated under N.J.A.C. 14:17 and 14:18 are incorporated
as if set forth herein at length.
F.
Amendments to these standards by either the Board
or the FCC will be forwarded to the Borough within 30 days of receipt
by Cablevision. With regard to the customer service standards promulgated
under N.J.A.C. 14:17 and 14:18, sufficient mutually agreed upon records
will be certified and maintained by Cablevision to demonstrate compliance.
These records will be maintained in such a form as to be available
and accessible upon the request of the Borough.
A.
Cablevision shall pay as an annual franchise fee a
sum equal to 2% of the actual gross revenues received from all recurring
charges in the nature of subscription fees paid by subscribers for
its cable television reception services in the Borough of Chatham
or any greater amount mandated by the New Jersey Cable Television
Act, or otherwise required by law, immediately upon the effective
date thereof. The fee shall be paid on or before the 25th day of January
of each year, and at the same time Cablevision shall file with the
Chief Financial Officer of the Borough of Chatham a verified statement
showing the gross receipts upon which payment is based.
B.
Cablevision shall further annually file the reports
as required by N.J.S.A. 48:5A-30 and regulations as promulgated from
time to time by the Office of Cable Television.
Although nothing herein shall require Cablevision
to carry or transmit any particular television stations or programming
source, Cablevision shall provide the subscribers in the Borough of
Chatham with at least the same broad categories of programming, in
approximately the same or greater quantity, as are now provided, and
which appear in the application.
A.
Cablevision shall provide, upon written request at
no charge, basic cable service to all state-accredited primary and
secondary schools within the Borough, the municipal public library,
and to all municipal public buildings set forth in Exhibit A,[1] serviceable by a standard cable installation.
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A is included at the end of this chapter.
B.
Cablevision shall provide to the Borough, free of
charge, one high-speed modem and monthly Internet access service,
including a standard installation, to one municipal location designated
by the Borough, which designation shall be made in writing prior to
installation. The Borough shall be permitted, at its own cost, to
network up to three additional personal computer terminals in the
designated building (four computers in total) to the cable modem provided
by Cablevision.
C.
Cablevision shall provide upon written request to
all state-accredited primary and secondary schools within the Borough,
and the municipal library, free of charge, one high-speed cable modem
and monthly Internet access service, including a standard installation.
A.
The rates of Cablevision for cable television service
shall be subject to regulation to the extent permitted by federal
and state law.
B.
Cablevision has agreed to implement a senior citizen's
discount in the amount of 10% off the monthly basic service rate to
any person 62 years of age or older who subscribes to cable services
and does not share the cable television reception service subscription
with more than one person in the same household who is less than 62
years of age. Such subscribers must meet the income and residence
requirements of the Pharmaceutical Assistance to Aged and Disabled
(PAAD) pursuant to N.J.S.A. 30:4D-21. The discount agreed to by Cablevision
herein relates only to the entry level basic rate and shall not apply
to any additional service, feature, or equipment offering subscribed
to by a subscriber eligible for the discount.
C.
Cablevision shall provide for a credit or rebate for
outages of cable television service under N.J.S.A. 48:5A-11a and the
rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
A.
Cablevision agrees to maintain and keep in force and
effect at its sole cost and expense at all times during the term of
this consent sufficient liability insurance naming the Borough as
an additional insured and insuring against losses by any claim, suit,
judgment execution or demand in the minimum amounts of $3,000,000
for bodily injury or death to any person, and $5,000,000 for bodily
injury or death resulting from any one accident or occurrence. Cablevision
also agrees to maintain during the term of this consent an excess
liability or "umbrella" policy, naming the Borough as an additional
insured, in the minimum amount of $10,000,000.
B.
The insurance policy or policies maintained pursuant
to this section shall contain provisions to the effect that the insurer
will not cancel, refuse to renew, or substantially change the insurance
without the company first giving the Borough prior notice of such
intention to cancel, substantially change or not to renew.
A.
Cablevision shall obtain and maintain, at its sole
cost and expense, during the entire term of this agreement, a bond
to the municipality in the amount of $25,000. Such bond shall be to
insure the faithful performance of its obligations as provided in
this franchise.
B.
The Borough reserves the right by resolution to require
a reasonable increase in the amount of said bond, subject to review
by the OCTV and approval of the Board.
A.
Cablevision shall establish and maintain during the
entire term of this consent a local area business office or agent
for the purpose of receiving, investigating and resolving complaints
regarding the quality of service, equipment malfunctions and similar
matters. Said office shall be open daily during normal business hours,
and in no event less than 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday,
with the exception of holidays.
B.
Cablevision shall provide telephone response to subscriber
complaints in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:18-3.6, and shall provide
prompt restoration of service in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:18-3.13.
C.
Further in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:18-3.6 Cablevision
representatives shall be available 24 hours a day to respond to outages
and other emergency situations. In addition, telephone response for
such purpose will be provided by Cablevision's personnel, representative
or agent, twenty-four hours a day.
A.
In the event that another multichannel video program
provider's service within the Borough creates a significant competitive
disadvantage to Cablevision, Cablevision shall have the right to request
from the Borough lawful amendments to its franchise that relieve it
of burdens which create the unfair competitive situation. Should Cablevision
seek such amendments to its franchise, the parties agree to negotiate
in good faith appropriate changes to the franchise in order to relieve
Cablevision of such competitive disadvantages. If the parties can
reach an agreement on such terms, the Borough agrees to support Cablevision's
petition to the Board for modification of the consent in accordance
with N.J.S.A. 48:5A-47 and N.J.A.C. 14:17-6.7.
B.
If the parties are unable to reach an agreement on
appropriate amendments to the franchise, the Borough acknowledges
that Cablevision shall have the right to petition the Board directly
for such amendments in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:5A-47 and N.J.A.C.
14:17-6.7; provided, however, that the Borough shall be under no obligation
to support Cablevision's request for such relief from the Board.
C.
Cablevision represents and acknowledges that as of
the date of its acceptance of this municipal consent, competition
within Chatham Borough has not yet risen to the level of creating
a significant competitive disadvantage sufficient to enable Cablevision
to seek relief under this section.
A.
Cablevision shall provide and maintain, without charge
for its use, a fully operational designated public, educational and
governmental (PEG) access channel for use solely by the residents
and institutions of the Borough. This channel may only be used for
noncommercial programming.
B.
Cablevision shall be required to designate a second
noncommercial, composite public, educational and governmental access
channel, for the exclusive use of the Borough, anytime the existing
designated PEG access channel is in continuous use with the cablecasting
of locally produced original PEG programming during at least 75% of
the time, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. during any
consecutive twelve-week period during the term of this consent. If
the usage ratio of the second PEG channel should at anytime fall below
50% based upon the formula described herein, use of the second designated
PEG access channel shall revert back to Cablevision upon 60 days'
advance written notice to the Borough. For purposes of this section,
"locally produced original PEG programming" shall mean programming
produced by the Borough and its Cablevision subscribers, and the governmental
agencies, schools and/or school districts within the Borough, but
excluding programming consisting of character-generated messages and/or
repeated programming.
C.
In consideration of the rights granted under this
consent, and in order to meet the cable-related needs of this community,
Cablevision shall provide a one-time grant of $20,000 to be used by
the Borough for cable-related purposes such as noncommercial PEG access
within Chatham Borough.
D.
The Borough agrees that Cablevision shall retain the
right to use the PEG access channel(s), or portion thereof, for non-PEG
access programming, during times when the Borough is not utilizing
the channel for purposes of providing PEG access programming. In the
event that Cablevision uses said PEG access channel(s) for the presentation
of such other programming, the PEG programming shall remain the priority
use and Cablevision's rights with respect to using the channel(s)
for non-PEG programming shall be subordinate to the Borough's provision
of PEG access programming on such channel(s).
E.
Upon reasonable written request of the Borough, but
not more frequently than twice each year, Cablevision shall offer
at its studio, seminars on the production of television programming
for the training of Borough residents who will assist in productions
originated by the Borough.
All of the commitments and statements contained
in the application and any amendment thereto submitted in writing
to the municipality by the Company, except as modified herein, are
binding upon the company as terms and conditions of this consent.
The application and any other written amendments thereto submitted
by the Company shall be annexed hereto and made a part hereof by reference
as long as it does not conflict with state or federal law.
This franchise shall be construed in a manner
consistent with all applicable federal, state and local laws. The
Borough reserves the right, subject to the scope of authority granted
by state law, to regulate Cablevision to the extent permitted by federal
law as amended from time to time, during the term of this franchise,
which shall be deemed amended in conformity to such regulations upon
their effective date.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase, or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid
or unconstitutional by any court 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 portion
thereof.
Cablevision agrees that the capabilities of
the system shall be maintained as technologically current throughout
the duration of the franchise, as compared with other Cablevision
systems of comparable size, measured by the number of subscribers
in the system, and to the extent economically reasonable and commercially
practicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein shall obligate
Cablevision to perform a rebuild of the system.
This ordinance shall take effect upon issuance
of a certificate of approval as issued by the Board of Public Utilities.
