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ORDINANCE NO. 1295
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
LYNWOOD (1) GRANTING CONSENT TO THE TRANSFER OF AN
EXISTING CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE TO AMERICAN
CABLESYSTEMS OF CALIFORNIA, INC.; (2) AMENDING
CRDINANCE NO. 1134; (3) AMENDING ORDINANCE
NO. 1108; AND (4) CONCERNING RELATED MATTERS.
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THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LYNWOOD DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Recitals. The City Council finds, deter-
mines and declares as follows:
A. The City of Lynwood granted a non-exclusive
cable television franchise (the "Franchise") to Rogers
Cablesystems of California, Inc., now operating as Rogers
Cablesystems of the Southwest, Inc. ("Rogers") pursuant to
Ordinance No. 1108; and
B. The Franchise has been amended by Ordinance
Nos. 1253 and 1274; and
C. The current holder of the Franchise, Rogers,
has requested that the City consent to the transfer of the
Franchise to American Cablesystems of California, Inc., a
California corporation ("American"); and
D. The City has determined that American is a cap-
able and financially responsible transferee, that American
has agreed to accept and comply with all franchise terms and
conditions except as herein modified and that it is in the
best interests of the City to consent to the transfer of the
franchise to American; and
E. As the result of negotiations between City
representatives and representatives of Rogers and American,
the City has determined that it is appropriate to make
certain modifications to the cable television ordinances
currently in effect.
SECTION 2. CONSENT TO TRANSFER.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3.5 of
Ordinance No. 1108, the transfer to American Cablesystems of
California, Inc., a California corporation, of the existing,
non-exclusive cable television franchise heretofore held by
Rogers Cablesystems of California, Inc. is hereby approved,
subject to granting ordinance No. 1134, as amended, and to
the terms and conditions provided herein.
The transfer to American shall become effective at
such time as (i) American shall notify the City, in writing,
that it has acquired the assets of Rogers and (ii) American
shall have provided City with a written acceptance of the
terms and conditions of the franchise, this ordinance and the
franchise enabling ordinance No. 1108 and (iii) American
shall have provided to City the insurance, performance bond
and letter of credit required by the provisions of the
franchise ordinance. Upon the execution and filing of the
above-referenced documents, and upon the filing of a written
consent to the conditions imposed upon the parties as the
result of the transfer approval process, Rogers shall be
released from all obligations and liabilities under the
Franchise. City shall have no further obligations to
Rogers Cablesystems of California or any of its affiliate
corporations.
SECTION 3. Service Provisions.
A. Sections 5.1 through 5.10, inclusive, of
Ordinance No. 1108 are hereby deleted in their entirety.
B. New Sections 5.1 and 5.2 are hereby added to
Ordinance No. 1108, to read as follows:
Section 5.1 Services to be Provided.
The Grantee shall provide the broad categories of
video programming services listed in its franchise
transfer proposal. These categories of services
shall not be reduced without prior notification to
Grantor.
Section 5.2 Local Access Channels.
Grantee shall provide channel capacity on the cable
communications system for local origination,
government access, educational access, and public
access use in accordance with the provisions of the
franchise agreement.
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C. Sections 8.1 through 8.8, inclusive, of Ordin-
ance No. 1134 are hereby deleted in their entirety.
D. New Sections 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4 are hereby
added to Ordinance No. 1134, to read as follows:
Section 8.1 Services and Programmina.
Grantee shall provide the following broad
categories of video programming services:
a) local broadcast stations
b) certain distant broadcast stations
c) news, weather and sports channels
d) premium movie and special event channels
e) local origination and access programming
Section 8.2 Leased Channel Service.
Grantee shall offer leased channel service to
unaffiliated third parties in accordance with the
provisions of the Cable Communications Policy Act
of 1984.
Section 8.3 Institutional Network Service.
In the event that grantee initiates an
institutional network service, all non-premium
programming services shall be available to
institutional network subscribers.
Section 8.4 Public-Educational-Government Access
("PEG") Channels.
(a) Grantee shall initially dedicate channel
capacity on the lowest available subscriber tier of
the cable communications system as follows:
(i) one full-time public and educational
access channel; and
(ii) one full-time government access channel
(b) Subject to the following, Grantee shall be
required to dedicate up to a maximum of three (3)
channels for PEG use. If any PEG channel is being
utilized for the cablecasting of original (non-
repeated) locally produced (in the cities of Bell
Gardens, Downey, Lynwood, Paramount, Santa Fe
Springs and La Mirada) video access programming
more than sixteen (16) hours per day, seven days a
week between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and midnight
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for twelve (12) consecutive weeks, the Grantor may
require the Grantee to make additional channels
available for PEG purposes. However, nothing in
this subsection shall require the grantee to con-
struct additional system capacity beyond such
system capacity required by the Franchise
Ordinance.
(c) Whenever any PEG channel is programmed with
original (non-repeated) locally produced video
access programming for less than four (4) hours
per day for six (6) days per week for a continuous
period of not less than twelve (12) consecutive
weeks, the Grantor may permit the Grantee to
utilize unused channel capacity on that channel
under the following conditions:
(i) Any request from the Grantee to use any
fallow capacity designated for public,
educational or government access must be
submitted in writing to the City Council.
(ii) The City Council shall approve the
petition from the Grantee to use fallow
channel capacity if it finds the utilization
of the channel is as represented, the Grantee
has not acted in violation of any of the
provisions of the Franchise Ordinance to
interfere with the utilization of the channel
and if there are no special circumstances
which would justify the denial or delay of
implementation of the use of the channel.
After approval, the Grantee may continue to
utilize the channel for any other purposes it
so chooses, consistent with this Ordinance,
until it is required to be designated for PEG
purposes pursuant to the provisions hereof.
(iii) Notwithstanding any other provisions of
this Ordinance, a minimum of one (1) channel
on the cable communications system shall be
designated for PEG purposes throughout the
term of this franchise.
(d) The Grantee shall comply with Section 611(e)
of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984
regarding editorial control over PEG channels
provided pursuant to this Ordinance.
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SECTION 4. Franchise Non-Transferable and Change of
Control.
A. Section 3.5 of Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby
amended by adding the following new paragraph directly after
the first paragraph thereof:
"Notwithstanding the foregoing paragraph, the
accrued and outstanding shares of stock of the
Grantee may be hypothecated, the System assets and
franchise may be hypothecated, without the prior
approval of City, provided that each such
assignment, pledge, lease, sublease, mortgage, or
other transfer or hypothecation shall be subject to
the rights of Grantor pursuant to this Franchise,
or applicable law, and such rights of the Grantor
shall be recognized in each such hypothecation
agreement between the Grantor and any such
creditor."
B. The second paragraph of Section 3.6 of Ordinance
No. 1108 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"For purposes of this section, a presumptive change
in control will be established upon the sale or
transfer of twenty-five per cent (250) or more of
the Grantee's ownership stock."
SECTION 5. Interconnection.
Section 4.4 of Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby deleted
in its entirety.
SECTION 6. Operation and Maintenance.
A. Section 6.1 of Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
6.1 Maintenance of and Inspection of Records.
The Grantor shall have the right, upon forty-
eight (48) hours advance notice, to inspect
all books, records, maps, plans, income tax
returns, financial statements, service
complaint logs, performance test results and
other like materials of the Grantee which
Grantor determines relate to Grantee's
compliance with the provisions of the
Franchise. Grantee shall maintain a written
log or an equivalent stored in computer memory
and capable of access and reproduction for
all service requests and complaints.
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B. Section 6.2 of Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
6.2 Communications with Regulatory Agencies.
Copies of all petitions and applications,
concerning the franchise, or any portion
thereof, requesting entitlements or amendments
thereto, submitted to the Federal Communica-
tions Commission or any other Federal or State
agency shall be submitted to City within five
(5) days of filing with said agencies.
Grantee's routine correspondence to said
agencies need not be automatically submitted
to City, but shall be made available to City
upon written request.
C. Section 6.4 of Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
6.4 Consumer Service Standards. The Grantee
shall maintain an office reasonably accessible
to subscribers to provide the necessary
facilities, equipment and personnel to comply
with the following consumer standards under
normal conditions of operation:
(a) Sufficient toll-free telephone line
capacity during normal business hours to
assure efficient handling of consumer
inquiries.
(b) Emergency toll-free telephone line
capacity on a twenty-four (24) hour basis,
including weekends and holidays.
(c) A business and service office, open
during normal business hours and adequately
staffed to accept subscriber payments and
respond to service requests and complaints.
Evening and weekend hours should be scheduled
as needed to respond to consumer needs.
(d) An emergency system maintenance and
repair staff, capable of responding to and
repairing major system malfunction on a
twenty-four (24) hour basis.
(e) Grantee shall schedule service and
installation appointments within a specified
four (4) hour time period, whenever possible.
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D. New Section 6.6 is hereby added to Ordinance
No. 1108 to read as follows:
Section 6.6 Requests for Cable Service and
Repairs.
(a) The Grantee shall render efficient
service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt
service only for good cause and for the
shortest time possible. Scheduled inter-
ruptions, insofar as possible, shall be
preceded by notice and shall occur during
periods of minimum use of the system,
preferably between midnight and 6:00 a.m. A
written log or an equivalent stored in
computer memory and capable of access and
reproduction, shall be maintained for all
service interruptions and requests for cable
service.
(b) The Grantee shall maintain a repair force
of technicians normally capable of responding
to subscriber requests for service within the
following time frames:
(i) System outage: Within two (2)
hours, including weekends, of receiving
subscriber calls which by number identify
a system outage of sound or picture of
one (1) or more channels, affecting all
the subscribers of the system or a con-
siderable number thereof.
(ii) Isolated outage: Within
twenty-four (24) hours, including
weekends, of receiving requests for
service from five (5) or more customers
in the same geographical area identifying
an isolated outage of sound or picture
for ore (1) or more channels.
(iii) Inferior reception quality:
Within forty-eight (48) hours, including
weekends, of receiving a request for
service identifying a problem concerning
picture or sound quality.
(c) Grantee shall be deemed to have responded
to a request for service under the provisions
of this section when a technician arrives at
the service location, if necessary, or other-
wise begins work on the problem. In the case
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of a subscriber not being home when the tech-
nician arrives, response shall be deemed to
have taken place if the technician leaves
written notification of arrival.
E. New Section 6.7 is hereby added to Ordinance
1108 to read as follows:
Section 6.7 Verification of Standards.
Upon reasonable notice, the Grantee shall
demonstrate compliance with any or all of the
standards required in Section 6.4 and 6.6
above. The Grantee shall provide sufficient
detail to permit the Grantor to verify the
extent of compliance.
Non-compliance with Standards.
A repeated aid verifiable pattern of non-
compliance with the consumer protection
standards of Sections 6.4 and 6.6, after
Grantee receipt of due notice and an
opportunity to cure, may be termed a breach
of the franchise, subject to any and all
remedies as prescribed herein and applicable
law.
SECTION 7. Regulation of Rates.
A. Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by
deleting Sections 7.1 through 7.6, inclusive, in their
entirety and replacing said sections with the following:
Section 7. Regulation of Rates.
During the effective period of the Cable
Communications Policy Act, as the same relates to
rate regulation, Grantee is not regulated by
Grantor in the establishment of rates for any class
of service. In the event that'the deregulation of
rates, mandated by said Act or any successor or
replacement thereto is ever repealed or held
unconstitutional, or amended to allow for limited
regulation of rates, Grantor reserves the right to
reinstitute a rate regulation system as contained
in any Franchise, as originally granted. If rate
regulation is reinstated, the preceding sentence
shall not be construed to mandate or authorize a
rate "rollback" to previously existing regulated
rates.
B. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
deleting sections 10.1 through 10.9, inclusive, in their
entirety, and replacing said sections with the following:
Section 10. Regulation of Rates.
During the effective period of the Cable
Communications Policy Act, as the same relates to
rate regulation, Grantee is not regulated by
Grantor in the establishment of rates for any class
of service. In the event that the deregulation of
rates, mandated by said Act, or any successor or
replacement thereto, is ever repealed or held
unconstitutional, or amended to allow for limited
regulation of rates, Grantor reserves the right to
reinstitute a rate regulation system as contained
in the Franchise, as originally granted. If rate
regulation is reinstated, the preceding sentence
shall not be construed to mandate or authorize a
rate "rollback" to previously existing regulated
rates.
SECTION 8. Security Fund.
Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by deleting
section 10.2 in its entirety.
SECTION 9. Faithful Performance Bond.
A. Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by
revising Section 10.3 thereof to read as follows:
Section 10.3 Faithful Performance Bond. Upon the
effective date of the transfer of the franchise,
the Grantee shall furnish proof of the posting of a
faithful performance bond running to the Grantor,
with a good and sufficient surety approved by the
Grantor, in the penal sum of sixty thousand
($60,000) conditioned that the Grantee shall well
and truly observe, fulfill, and perform each term
and condition of the franchise. Written evidence
of payment of required premiums shall be filed and
maintained with Grantor.
B. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 5.5 thereof to read as follows:
Section 5.5 Faithful Performance Bond.
Upon the effective date of the transfer of the
franchise, the Grantee shall furnish proof of the
posting of a faithful performance bond running to
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the Grantor, with a good and sufficient surety
approved by the Grantor, in the penal sum of sixty
thousand ($60,000) conditioned that the Grantee
shall well and truly observe, fulfill, and perform
each term and condition of the franchise. Written
evidence of payment of required premiums shall be
filed and maintained with Grantor.
SECTION 10. Damages and Defense.
Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by revising
Section 10.4 (a) to read as follows:
Section 10.4 Damages and Defense.
(a) The Grantee shall hold harmless the
Grantor from all damages and penalties arising
directly or indirectly as a result of the exercise
of the franchise. These damages and penalties
shall include, but shall not be limited to, damages
arising out of the construction, operation,
maintenance or reconstruction of the Cable
Communications System authorized herein, whether or
not any act or omission complained of is
authorized, allowed, or prohibited by this
franchise, except to the extent such damages or
penalties arise out of or are caused by the
negligence or intentional act or omission of the
Grantor, or its employees, agents or
representatives.
SECTION 11. Right to Purchase the System.
Section 11.1 of Ordinance No. 1108 is amended by
deleting said Section in its entirety and inserting in its
place the following:
"Upon the revocation, expiration, or earlier
termination of a franchise granted hereunder, the
Grantor shall be entitled to acquire ownership of
the cable system in accordance with the provisions
as to new franchises in Section 627 of the Cable
Communications Policy Act of 1984."
SECTION 12. Right of Inspection of Records.
Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by the
deletion of Section 11.2 thereof.
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SECTION 13. Revocation.
Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by revising
Section 13.1 thereof to read as follows:
Section 13.1 Revocation. In addition to any
rights set out elsewhere in this ordinance, the
Grantor reserves the right to revoke the franchise
in a manner consistent with the procedures
established in the franchise granting ordinance.
SECTION 14. Subsequent Action by State or Federal
Aaencies.
A. Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by
revising Section 14.6 thereof to read as follows:
Section 14.6 Subseauent Action by State or
Federal Agencies. Should the State of
California, the Federal Communications
Commission, or any other agency of the Federal
government subsequently require the Grantee to
perform or cease to perform any act which is
inconsistent with any provisions of the
franchise, the Grantee shall notify Grantor.
Upon receipt of such notification, the Grantor
shall determine if a material provision of the
franchise is affected. Upon such
determination, the City Council and the
Grantee agree to negotiate in good faith
toward any reasonable and appropriate
modification or amendment of the franchise to
the extent necessary to carry out the full
intent and purposes hereof in relation to the
rights and benefits of the City and the
Grantee.
B. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 16.3 thereof to read as follows:
Section 16.3 Subseauent Action by State or
Federal Agencies. Should the State of
California, the Federal Communications
Commission, or any other agency of the Federal
government subsequently require the Grantee to
perform or cease to perform any act which is
inconsistent with any provisions of the
franchise, the Grantee shall notify Grantor.
Upon receipt of such notification, the Grantor
shall determine if a material provision of the
franchise is affected. Upon such
determination, the City Council and the
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Grantee agree to negotiate in good faith
toward any reasonable and appropriate
modification or amendment of the franchise to
the t t
ex en necessary to carry out the full
intent and purposes hereof in relation to the
rights and benefits of the City and the
Grantee.
SECTION 15. Franchise Not Exclusive
Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by the
deletion of Section 3.5 (a).
SECTION 16. Franchise Acceptance
Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by the of
Section 3.6 thereof.
SECTION 17. Liability Insurance and Indemnification
Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by revising
Section 5.6 thereof to read as follows:
Section 5.6 Liability Insurance and
Indemnification. Upon the effective date of the
transfer of the Franchise, Grantee shall furnish
proof that Grantor and Grantee are covered under a
broad form policy of liability insurance issued by
a company authorized to do business in California.
Grantee shall provide evidence that Grantor's
coverage is in the minimum amount of three million
dollars ($3,000,000). Grantee shall also provide
workers' compensation coverage consistent with
California statutory requirements. Evidence of
such coverage shall be filed with the Grantor.
Grantee shall receive thirty (30) days advance
written notice of any proposed alteration of a
material provision of the insurance policies on
which it is carried as a named insured, as well as
on coverage required to be maintained by this
section. Such advance notice shall also be
required as to any proposed or actual cancellation
of any such policies of insurance.
SECTION 18. Construction Cost.
Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by the
deletion of Section 6.7 thereof.
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SECTION 19. System Design and Performance Requirements
A. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by the
deletion of Sections 7.1 and 7.2 thereof.
B. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by the
addition of new Section 7.1 System Configuration and Channel
Capacity.
Section 7.1 System Configuration and Channel
Capacity. The cable communications system shall
consist of single cable trunk which shall be
activated to deliver. signals at frequencies up to
four hundred (400) MHz. To the extent the cable
communication system does not have such capability
as of the date of this Ordinance, the System shall
be upgraded in order to provide activated service
at such capability within twelve (12) months from
the transfer of the Franchise to American. Of the
channel capacity of such cable system, the Grantee
shall allocate and provide fifty-two (52)
downstream and two (2) upstream channels for
residential use, and two (2) downstream and two (2)
upstream channels for institutional use. Upon the
activation of such capacity, Grantee may de-
activate any second trunk of "dual-cable" which
exists within the system. Grantee shall provide
additional channel capacity for residential and/or
institutional use upon a showing of measurable
market interest and economical and technical
feasibility.
C. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.3 to read as follows:
Section 7.3 Satellite Earth Stations. Grantee
shall provide a reasonably sufficient number of
earth stations to receive signals from operational
communications satellites that generally carry
programs available to the cable system, throughout
the life of the Franchise.
D. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.4 to read as follows:
Section 7.4 Caoacity for Interactive Residential
Services. Grantee shall provide, in the initial
system configuration, the capacity for interactive
residential services including, but not limited to,
security alarm monitoring, home shopping, energy
management, home banking, teletext, information
access and retrieval, subscriber polling, video
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games and one-way or interactive education. All
customer equipment necessary for such services,
such as addressable interactive converters, home
terminals and home detectors, shall be provided to
subscribers by Grantee in accordance with
established and uniform rate schedules.
Grantee shall be under no obligation to
provide or activate the services described in the
foregoing paragraph, or other similar residential
services, unless and until there is a showing of
technical and economic feasibility for such
service.
E. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.5 to read as follows:
Section 7.5 Canacitv for Institutional Services.
Grantee shall provide in the capacity and
configuration of the cable communications systems
the channels for institutional use designated in
Section 7.1 hereof. The system shall provide all
features reasonably necessary to maintain message
privacy and security, which may include, but not be
limited to, addressable taps and converters, data
encryption and signal scrambling.
F. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.6 to read as follows:
Section 7.6 cablecasting Facilities. Grantor
acknowledges that the cablecasting facilities which
have been put in place by Rogers as the same exist
as of the date of this Amendment, comply with
Grantor's requirement for cablecasting facilities.
American shall be required during the term of the
Franchise to maintain the cablecasting facilities•
at their present level, and to repair or replace
such facilities as the need arises to maintain such
level.
G. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.7 thereof to read as follows:
Section 7.7 Interconnection. upon a showing of
measurable market interest and of economic and
technical feasibility, Grantee shall enter into
good faith negotiations toward creating an
interconnect channel with other cable systems
located in Los Angeles County, whether operated by
Grantee, its affiliates, or unrelated operators.
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H. Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.12 thereof to read as follows:
Section 7.12 Technical Standards. Grantee shall
comply at all times with the technical standards of the
FCC rules and regulations, Part 76, Subpart K. Grantee
shall use the technical standards set forth in Exhibit
"A" hereto, and incorporated herein by this reference.
City may utilize the adherence to the technical
standards listed in Exhibit "A" as one measure of
Grantee's quality of service.
I. Ordinance No. 1].34 is hereby amended by
revising Section 7.13 thereof to read as follows:
Section 7.13 Performance Testing.
(a) Grantee shall perform all tests
necessary, to comply with, and to determine
compliance with, the technical standards
established by the FCC. Grantee shall also
perform all tests necessary to determine
compliance with the technical standards set
forth in Exhibit "A". In addition, at any
time after commencement of service to
subscribers the Grantor may request that the
Grantee perform additional tests on the basis
of substantial numbers of complaints received
or other evidence indicating an unresolved
controversy or significant noncompliance, and
such tests shall be limited to the particular
matter in controversy. The Grantor shall
endeavor to arrange its requests for such
special tests so as to minimize hardship or
inconvenience to Grantee or to the subscriber.
The costs of any such tests, and any necessary
retests, shall be borne by Grantee.
SECTION 21. Renewal or Extension.
New section 14.5 is hereby added to Ordinance No.
1134 to read as follows:
14.5 Renewal or Extension after Transfer. As part
of the transfer approval process, American has
requested an extension of the cable communications
franchise. Grantor declined to extend the
franchise at that time, but did agree to entertain
an application for renewal or extension after
American has operated the system for a period of
twenty four (24) months. Grantor shall promptly
review said application, if filed, and then set
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appropriate public hearings. The primary focus of
Grantor's review will be the performance of
American in operating the system. Grantor shall
review the quality of service as indicated by the
number and type of service complaints and the
results of periodic system performance tests. At
the time such an application for renewal or
extension is considered, Grantor shall also
consider reducing the amounts of security
(performance bonds and/or letter of credit) deemed
necessary for the balance of the franchise term.
If Grantor determines that Grantee has complied
with the provisions of the Franchise, it shall
grant a minimum extension of six (6) additional
years from and after the scheduled expiration of
the franchise. If Grantor determines that there
are areas of performance that are not satisfactory
at the time such application is considered, it
shall make findings as to such deficiencies and
continue the consideration of the application for
an appropriate period, not to exceed 120 days, for
Grantee to cure said deficiencies.
SECTION 22. Fiscal Year.
Section 5.9 of Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Section 5.9 Reporting Periods. The fiscal
year of Grantee shall be from July 1 through June
30. All reports and payments required of Grantee
by Grantor, whether annual or quarterly, shall be
made to coincide with Grantee's fiscal year.
SECTION 23. Support for Local Programming.
Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by revising
Section 9.2 thereof to read as follows:
Section 9.2 Grantee Support for Local Programming.
Grantee shall provide the following or equivalent
support for local programming.:
(a) Grantee shall provide free of charge con-
sulting and training services on production
and program format and the use of public ac-
cess, governmental and educational channels.
(b) Grantee shall offer and conduct a free
workshop, not less than four times a year to
provide training in the technical and con-
ceptual skills required for community tele-
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vision production. Announcements of the date,
time and place of said workshops shall be made
over the public access and community affairs
channels no less than six times daily for a
two-week period prior to the workshop. Notice
of the workshop shall also be published in the
subscriber's program guide or a newspaper of
general circulation in City. Attendance at
and completion of such a workshop or evidence
satisfactory to the Grantee of equivalent
training or experience may be a prerequisite
to using production facilities and equipment.
(c) A full-time, professional staff shall be
employed by the Grantee to conduct training
programs, to promote the public use of the
public channels, community affairs, and other
cablecasting channels, to advise such users on
the programming and production matters and to
otherwise fulfill the Grantee's community
programming obligations hereunder.
(d) Grantee, in conjunction with access
users, community organizations and volunteers,
shall produce and cablecast on the system, no
later than twelve (12) months following the
date of transfer of the Franchise to American,
an average minimum of ten (10) original hours
of community programming per week. It is the
intent of Grantor and Grantee that "community
programming" shall be defined as programming
originating in or concerning the cities
previously franchised to Rogers Cablesystems
of California, Inc. (i.e. Bell Gardens,
Downey, Lynwood, Paramount, Santa Fe Springs,
and La Mirada). If the average number of
community programming hours produced and
cablecast falls below the number stipulated,
Grantor shall have the right to require
Grantee to increase its community programming
production staff within ninety (90) days of
written notice of non-compliance. For the
purposes hereof, the measurement of average
number of hours produced and cablecast shall
be calculated twice yearly in February and
July, and shall include the period between the
previous July 1 and December 31 and January 1
and June 30 respectively. Grantee shall make
expenditures in support of community
programming each year up to 2% of its gross
revenues related to the operation of the
system for the previous years.
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(e) Grantee shall consult with of Grantor
regarding ideas for local programming. In the
event that Grantor desires programming that
Grantee feels would not interest its audience
in the Southeast Los Angeles County area,
Grantor may contract for production and
narrowcasting of such programming to its
residents. Grantee shall perform such
production and broadcast tasks at its cost.
(f) Grantee shall maintain the availability
of an access studio in Lynwood. Grantee may
relocate the studio so long as it remains
within the corporate limits of Lynwood.
Grantee shall have the possession and
ownership of the equipment presently in said
studio. Grantee shall maintain, and replace
as necessary, the cablecasting equipment in
the Lynwood studio.
SECTION 24. "Most Favored Nation" Clause.
New Section 18 is hereby added to Ordinance No.
1134 to read as follows:
Section 18. "Most Favored Nation" Clause. If,
within one year after the effective date of this
ordinance, American is approved as a transferee
by any of the following cities: Paramount, Bell
Gardens, Santa Fe Springs or Downey, on terms and
conditions that Grantor deems would be more
beneficial to it, Grantor may elect to accept, on a
pro rata basis, the total terms and conditions
offered to any of the other cities mentioned
herein. Grantor shall have only the options of (1)
keeping the terms and conditions contained in this
ordinance and the accompanying agreement or (2)
rejecting the terms and conditions contained in
this ordinance and the accompanying agreement and
instead, accepting, on a pro rata basis, the terms
and conditions offered to any of the other cities
herein mentioned. Paramount's interactive
demonstration program and the Lynwood access studio
are special incentives that are available only to
those cities and to which this Section shall not
apply.
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SECTION 25. Right to Purchase the System.
Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended by deleting
Section 15 in its entirety and replacing said section with
the following:
Section 15.1 Riaht to Purchase System. Grantor,
in compliance with the Cable Communications Policy
Act of 1984 and California law governing eminent
domain and upon payment of fair market value, may
condemn the Franchise, property and plant of
Grantee.
SECTION 26. Subsequent Ordinances.
Ordinance Nos. 1253 and 1274 are hereby repealed in
their entirety.
SECTION 27. Installation of Cable Television
Facilities in new Subdivisions.
Ordinance No. 1108 is hereby amended by adding the
following provision as Section 5.11 thereof:
Section 5.11 Installation of Cable Television
Facilities in New Subdivisions. In the case of a
new subdivision, each cable television system
operator granted a franchise by the City to service
such area shall be given reasonable advance notice
and reasonable access and opportunity to place its
transmission and distribution facilities in utility
trenches opened by such subdivider. Further in
such case, in the event more than one cable
television system operator is so franchised, each
such operator shall be given equal access and
opportunity to place its underground facilities in
such trenches. The cost for initially opening such
trenches and providing access thereto to such cable
television system operators shall be borne by the
subdivider.
SECTION 28. The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984
contains several provisions treating cable television system
franchises in effect on the date of the Act differently than
franchises granted after the enactment of the Act. By
enacting this Ordinance, and approving the transfer of an
existing franchise to American Cablesystems of California,
Inc., neither Grantor nor Grantee intend the Franchise be
construed as a new Franchise outside the scope of the
"grandfather" clauses of the Cable Communications Policy Act.
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SECTION 29. Franchise Fee.
.Section 5.2 of Ordinance No. 1134 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Section 5.2 Franchise Fee. Following the transfer
and acceptance of the Franchise, the Grantee shall
pay to the Grantor a franchise fee of five per cent
(5%) of gross revenues. These payments shall be
computed and paid on a quarterly basis, and due no
later than thirty (30) days following the end of
each quarter of Grantee's fiscal year. Grantee
shall make said franchise fee payments to Grantor
without any offset or credit for any franchise fee
prepayment made by any predecessor grantee.
SECTION 30. The City Clerk shall certify to the
adoption of this Ordinance and shall clause the same to be
processed in the manner required by law.
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PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this ~~ day of
October , 1987.
~---
~~-MAYOR
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
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