HomeMy WebLinkAbout13503ORDINANCE NO. 13,503
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 13,486
KNOWN AS THE CABLE TELEVISION ORDINANCE;
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.
SECTION 1. The Cable Television Ordinance of the City of
Little Rock adopted as Ordinance No. 13,486 is hereby amended
and shall read as follows in Subsection 4B, page 5:
i. The undergrounding of cables is encouraged.
In any event, cables shall be installed under-
ground where all existing utilities are already
underground. Previously installed aerial cable
shall be undergrounded in concert with utilities
when they are undergrounded.
ii. To prevent unnecessary damage to streets, rights -
of -way and property, the installation of cable tele-
vision service cables underground shall be accom-
plished in new subdivisions at the same time and
in the same trench as in other communications,
electric and other permanent services to structures.
Developers of new residential buildings or mobile
homes within a new or undeveloped subdivision,
new residential units within new multiple occupancy
residential developments, and new commercial and
industrial buildings and structures shall treat
cable television facilities as they treat other
communication facilities, utilities and other
underground facilities, in regard to availability
and cost of trenching for undergrounding.
iii. The Grantee shall utilize the facilities of uti-
lities and subways, wherever possible.
iv. In no case may the Grantee install poles where
underground facilities are in use by utility
companies, provided, however, the City Manager
shall have the option of permitting such instal-
lation.
V. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
act as a waiver of the power of the City to require
by ordinance the substitution of underground service
for overhead service, if all other utilities are
so required.
vi. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
relieve the Grantee from its obligation to pay
any fees or rents for its use of facilities of
the City, utility companies, or other legal entities.
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SECTION 2. Subsection 9B is amended by eliminating (3)(d)
and changing (3)(e) to read as (3)(d) and adding the following
language to that subsection:
In addition the criteria shall include relevant
factors such as the quality of service provided
and compliance by the franchisee with all terms
and conditions of the franchise.
SECTION 3. Section 9, p. 14, subsection A is amended by add-
ing the following:
Following the issuance of a franchise by the City,
the grantee shall initiate license fee payments
to the grantor at the minimum rate of twenty -five
thousand dollars ($25,000) per year. At such time
as the grantee begins full system construction,
this advance fee shall increase to fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) per year. These payments are to
be considered advances of payments due in later
years and will be credited in future years to those
franchise fees which exceed $100,000 in a year.
Such advance franchise fees shall not be recoverable
from the City in the event that the aggregate of
future franchise fees based on gross annual subscriber
revenues collected on a license do not exceed the
total amounts of the advances.
SECTION 4. Section 20(A), p. 27, is amended by deleting (i)
and replacing it with the following language:
(i) For failure to comply with the provisions of
Section 6...The City may at its sole option
apply the following in connection with delays
in system construction:
(a) Reduction in the duration of the franchise
on a month - for -month basis for each month
of delay within the franchisee's control
exceeding three months. Such reduction in
terms shall not accumulate beyond a total
of two years.
(b) Forfeiture of performance bonds for delays
exceeding one year.
SECTION S. A new section shall be added entitled Section 24.
Theft of Service Prohibited and will read as follows:
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity
to make unauthorized connection whether physi-
cally, electrically, acoustically, inductively,
or otherwise to any part of a licensed cable
television system within the City, for the pur-
pose of enabling receipt of video, audio, digital,
or other signals or information without payment to
the City.
'SECTION 6.
upon its passage.
This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect
PASSED: September 5, 1978
ATTEST: t Clerk
APPROVED: a z rz�f,
Mayor