818.22 INSTALLATION OF SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES.
The company shall install signal distribution facilities to all residents of the Township subject to all provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
818.23 PERMIT REQUIRED FOR SPECIALIZED SERVICES.
The company shall obtain a permit from the Township to provide to segments of subscribers any specialized service that will not be available to all subscribers. All requests shall demonstrate that the service is not contrary to the public interest and will not affect the company’s ability to deliver service to other users and subscribers. (Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
818.24 CONTROL OF PROGRAMMING.
(a) The Township shall not prohibit or limit any program, or any class or type of program, or otherwise control the communications or signals transmitted by the company, or impose discriminatory or preferential fees, in any manner that would tend to encourage or discourage programming of any particular nature, directly or indirectly, and shall not promulgate any regulation that would interfere with the right of free speech by means of cable television.
(b) The company shall not prohibit or limit any program, or class or type of program, presented over a leased channel or any channel made available for public access or educational purposes.
(Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
818.25 EXPIRATION, CANCELLATION OR TRANSFER OF FRANCHISE.
In the event of expiration, cancellation or transfer of the franchise, the company is required to continue to operate the system until an orderly change of operation is effectuated, but in the capacity of a trustee or its successor in interest, and subject to an accounting for net earnings or losses during this interim period. (Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
818.26 ADVISORY COUNCIL ESTABLISHED.
There is hereby established an Advisory Council on Cable Television to be appointed by the Township. The Council shall be composed of seven members who shall reflect the diverse community interests of the Township and who shall serve for terms of three years. Initial terms shall be one, two and three years, determined by lot as follows: Two members shall serve for one year, two members shall serve for two years and three members shall serve for three years. Any vacancy shall be filled by the Township by appointment for the remainder of the term. No employee or person with ownership interest in a cable television franchise granted pursuant to this chapter shall be eligible for membership on this Council. The Chairperson of the Council shall be elected by the members of the Council for a term of one year. Any action of the Council shall require concurrence of four members of the Council. An appropriation shall be made by the Township for funding of this Council, such money to come from fees paid the Township by the company as specified in this chapter. The Council shall have the following functions:
(a) Advise the Township on applications for franchises and on franchise renewal;
(b) Advise the Township on matters which might be grounds for revocation of the franchise or imposition of a penalty on the company in accordance with this chapter;
(c) Resolve disagreements among franchisees or between the company and subscribers or public or private users of the system. A decision of the Council in such cases is appealable to the Township.
(d) Advise the Township with respect to rates, to policy relating to the services provided to subscribers, to the operation and use of public channels and to the availability of channel time for lease for pay-cable programs, business users or informational programming;
(e) Cooperate with other systems and supervise interconnection of systems;
(f) Audit all company records as required by this chapter and, at the Council’s discretion, require preparation and filing of information additional to that required herein;
(g) Make an annual report to the Township, including an account of franchise fees received and distributed, the total number of hours of utilization of public channels, hourly subtotals for various programming categories and a review of any plans submitted during the year by the company for development of new services; and
(h) Conduct an evaluation of the system at least every three years, in consultation with the company and utilizing technical consultants, if necessary, which shall be paid for from fees received by the Township from the company and, pursuant thereto, make recommendations to the Township for amendments to this chapter. (Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
818.27 AMENDMENTS; SEPARABILITY.
(a) To the extent that the Federal Communications Commission terminates controls in this area pertinent to this chapter, this chapter shall immediately be amended, if considered desirable to do so by the Board of Township Commissioners.
(b) If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter 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 holdings shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.
(Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
(Editor’s NOTE: See Section 202.99 for general Code penalty if no specific penalty is provided.)
For a violation of a material provision of this chapter, penalties may be chargeable as follows:
(a) For failure to complete construction and installation of the system as provided in Section 818. 16, unless the delay is approved in advance by the Township, the franchise term shall be reduced one year for each three months delay.
(b) For failure to commence operation in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the Township shall have the right, in lieu of termination of the franchise, to impose penalties.
(Ord. 474. Passed 9-20-78.)
1988 Replacement