Every franchise agreement shall specify the construction schedule that
will apply to any required construction, upgrade, or rebuild of the cable
system.
A.
Construction shall be in accordance with all applicable
laws. The construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of a cable system
shall be in accordance with all applicable sections of the Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970, as amended, the National Electrical Safety Code, the
National Electric Code, other applicable federal, state, or local laws and
regulations that may apply to the operation, construction, maintenance, or
repair or a cable system, including, without limitation, local zoning and
construction codes, and laws and accepted industry practices, all as hereafter
may be amended or adopted.
B.
Wires to cause minimum inconvenience. All wires, cable
lines, and other transmission lines, equipment, and structures shall be installed
and located to cause minimum interference with the rights and convenience
of property owners.
C.
Installation of equipment to be of permanent nature.
All installation of electronic equipment shall be of a permanent nature, using
durable components.
D.
Antennas. Without limiting the foregoing, to the extent
applicable, antennas and their supporting structures (towers) shall be painted,
lighted, erected, and maintained in accordance with all applicable rules and
regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration and all other applicable
state or local laws, codes, and regulations, all as hereafter may be amended
or adopted.
E.
Good engineering practices. Without limiting the foregoing,
all of a grantee's plant and equipment, including but not limited to the antenna
site, head end and distribution system, towers, house connections, structures,
poles, wires, cable, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, fixtures, and apparatus
shall be installed, located, erected, constructed, reconstructed, replaced,
removed, repaired, maintained, and operated in accordance with good engineering
practices, performed by experienced and properly trained maintenance and construction
personnel so as not to endanger or interfere with improvements the Town shall
deem appropriate to make or to interfere in any manner with the public rights-of-way
or legal rights of any property owner or to hinder unnecessarily or obstruct
pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
F.
Safety practices. All safety practices required by law
shall be used during construction, maintenance, and repair of a cable system.
A grantee shall at all times employ reasonable care and shall install and
maintain in use commonly accepted methods and devices preventing failures
and accidents that are likely to cause damage, injury, or nuisance to the
public.
G.
No interference with other utilities. A grantee shall
not place facilities, equipment, or fixtures where they will interfere with
any gas, electric, telephone, water, sewer, or other utility facilities or
obstruct or hinder in any manner the various utilities serving the residents
of the Town or their use of any public rights-of-way.
H.
Repair of rights-of-way. Any and all public rights-of-way,
public property, or private property that is disturbed or damaged during the
construction, repair, replacement, relocation, operation, maintenance, or
construction of a system or otherwise, including installation, repair, maintenance
or replacement of a grantee's equipment, shall be promptly repaired by the
grantee at its sole expense.
I.
Removal of system due to conditions in rights-of-way.
A grantee shall, at its sole expense, by a time specified by the Town, protect,
support, temporarily disconnect, relocate, or remove any of its property when
required by the Town by reason of traffic conditions; public safety; public
right-of-way construction; public right-of-way maintenance or repair (including
resurfacing or widening); change of public right-of-way grade; construction,
installation or repair of sewers, drains, water pipes, power lines, signal
lines, tracks, or any other type of government-owned communications system;
public work or improvement of any government-owned utility; public right-of-way
vacation; or for any other purpose where the convenience of the Town would
be served thereby; provided, however, that the grantee shall, in all such
cases, have the privilege of abandoning any property in place.
J.
Removal by Town due to emergency. In the event of an
emergency, or where a cable system creates or is contributing to an imminent
danger to health, safety, or property, the Town may remove, relay, or relocate
that portion of the cable system. Unless the nature of the emergency or danger
is such that immediate action is necessary to preserve life or property or
to prevent physical harm to any individual, the Town shall provide telephone
notice to the grantee prior to removing, relaying or relocating any portion
of a grantee's cable system.
K.
Raising or lowering wires to permit moving of buildings.
A grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a building moving permit
issued by the Town, temporarily raise or lower its wires to permit the moving
of buildings. The expense of such temporary removal or raising or lowering
of wires shall be paid by the person requesting the same, and the grantee
shall have the authority to require such payment in advance, except in the
case where the requesting person is the Town, in which case no such payment
shall be required. The grantee shall be given reasonable advance notice to
arrange for such temporary wire changes, as provided in 35-A M.R.S.A. § 2516.
L.
Authority to trim trees. A grantee shall have the authority
to trim trees that overhang a public rights-of-way of the Town so as to prevent
the branches of such trees from coming in contact with the wires, cables and
equipment of the grantee. Except in emergencies, a grantee shall notify the
Town at least one business day prior to performing any such trimming. At the
option of the Town, such trimming may be done by the Town or under the Town's
supervision and direction, at the expense of the grantee.
M.
Use of existing utility facilities. A grantee shall use,
with the owner's permission, existing underground conduits or overhead utility
facilities whenever feasible and may not erect poles or support equipment
in public rights-of-way without the express permission of the Town. Copies
of agreements for use of conduits or other facilities shall be filed with
the Town as required by a franchise agreement or upon the Town's written request.
N.
Undergrounding of cable.
(1)
In public rights-of-way or other places where electrical
and telephone utility wiring is located underground, either at the time of
initial construction of a cable system or at any time thereafter, a grantee's
cable system also shall be located underground.
(2)
Between a public right-of-way and a subscriber's residence,
if either electric or telephone utility wiring is aerial, a grantee may install
aerial cable except where a property owner or resident requests underground
installation and agrees to bear the additional cost of such installation over
and above the cost of aerial installation. Where existing subdivision approvals,
deed covenants, municipal zoning or other legal restrictions require underground
location of utilities, the grantee's cable shall be located underground, and
the subscriber shall bear the additional cost of such installation on its
property as a condition of receiving cable service.
O.
Town use of grantee's poles. The Town shall have the
right to install and maintain free of charge upon the poles owned by a grantee
any wire and pole fixtures that do not materially interfere with the cable
system operations of the grantee.
P.
Town approval of construction. Prior to erection of any
towers, poles, or conduits or the construction, upgrade, or rebuild of a cable
system authorized under this chapter or a franchise agreement, a grantee shall
first submit to the Town and other designated parties for approval a concise
description of the cable system proposed to be erected or installed, including
engineering drawings, if required, together with a map and plans indicating
the proposed location of all such facilities. No erection or installation
of any tower, pole, underground conduit, or fixture or any rebuilding or upgrading
of a cable system shall be commenced by any person until the grantee has obtained
all building permits, street operating permits or other approvals required
by the Town under any ordinance, regulation or procedure generally applicable
to such activities.
Q.
Contractors and subcontractors. Any contractor or subcontractor
used for work or construction, installation, operation, maintenance, or repair
of system equipment must properly be licensed under laws of the state and
all applicable local ordinances. The grantee must ensure that contractors,
subcontractors and all employees who will perform work for it are trained
and experienced. Each contractor and subcontractor must perform work in compliance
with all applicable provisions of law and a franchise agreement, and the grantee
shall implement a quality control program to ensure that the work is so performed.
Except in emergencies or to restore outages, the grantee shall publicize
proposed construction work prior to commencement of that work by causing written
notice of such construction work to be delivered to the Town and by notifying
those persons most likely to be affected by the work in at least two of the
following ways: by telephone, in person, by mail or distribution of flyers
to residences, by publication in local newspapers, or in any other manner
reasonably calculated to provide adequate notice, including use of local informational
channels. Whenever practicable, such notice shall be given at least one week
prior to commencement of the work concerned.
A.
Subscriber right. It is the right of all subscribers
in a grantee's franchise area to receive all services that a grantee is then
providing under the terms of a valid franchise as long as their financial
and other obligations to the grantee are satisfied; provided, however, that
to the extent a grantee's agreements with its programming providers prohibit
the grantee from providing certain cable services to nonresidential subscribers,
the grantee may exclude such services from its offerings to nonresidential
subscribers.
B.
Assurance of continuous uninterrupted service. A grantee
shall ensure that all subscribers receive continuous uninterrupted service.
To this end, the grantee shall:
(1)
In the event of a sale or transfer of its franchise,
cooperate with the Town to assure an orderly transition from it to another
grantee and take all steps necessary to maintain service to subscribers until
the sale or transfer has been completed;
(2)
Not abandon service to the entire Town without having
given 12 months' prior notice to the Town; and
(3)
Not abandon service to any portion of the Town (excepting
termination of service to individual subscribers as otherwise permitted) without
having given six months' prior written notice to the Town. Following such
notice, the grantee shall continue to be obligated to comply with the terms
and conditions of its franchise agreement and applicable laws and regulations
and shall cooperate with the Town to assure an orderly transition from it
to another grantee.
C.
Abandonment of system. If a grantee abandons its system during the franchise term or fails to operate its system in accordance with this Article X during any transition period, the Town, at its option, may operate the system, designate another entity to operate the system temporarily until the grantee restores service under conditions acceptable to the Town or until the franchise is revoked and a new grantee selected by the Town is providing service, or obtain an injunction requiring the grantee to continue operations. If the Town is required to operate or designate another entity to operate the cable system, the grantee shall reimburse the Town or its designee for all reasonable costs and damages incurred that are in excess of the revenues from the cable system. In addition, any abandonment of a system shall be subject to all of the provisions of 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3008(3)(B).
D.
Injunctive relief. The Town shall be entitled to injunctive
relief under the preceding subsection if:
(1)
The grantee fails to provide cable service in accordance with its franchise over a substantial portion of the franchise area for 96 consecutive hours, unless the Town authorizes a longer interruption of service or as permitted pursuant to the force majeure clause of § 46-85; or
(2)
The grantee, for any period, willfully and without cause
refuses to provide cable service in accordance with its franchise over a substantial
portion of the franchise area.
