§ 5-10.10. Services.
(a)
Basic services. The cable television system permitted to be installed and operated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall, as a minimum, provide the services listed in the franchise agreement, as well as the following:
(1)
Be operationally capable of relaying to subscriber terminals all those local television and FM radio broadcast signals for the carriage of which the grantee is now or hereafter authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (not including "AM" radio broadcast signals);
(2)
Be constructed with the capability of two (2) way digital signal transmission for interactive (i.e., banking, shopping, reservation services, etc.) or security services. This rule shall not require that the cable system be operational in the return mode, but requires that the return mode be available for future use without the need for significant rebuilding or delay. If at any time during the franchise term, the City and the grantee mutually find that the cable system can effectively provide a utility type service such as meter reading, and if the City further finds that it would be in the public interest to provide this service to all residents, the City may require that all dwelling units within the franchise area shall be connected physically to the cable system by the grantee by means of drop cable terminating at each dwelling unit. The cost and charges shall be determined by the City following discussion with the grantee prior to or at the time such connection is required. Grantee shall be entitled to recover the incremental cost of providing a connection and the designated service for which such a connection will be utilized;
(3)
Distribute color television signals which it receives in color;
(4)
Provide at least one channel for local government educational, public access, and leased channel access uses. A single channel for the combined use of the above will be acceptable until increased usage requires a greater number of channels. The City may require additional channel capacity if any such channel is in use at least eighty (80%) percent of the time during any consecutive three (3) hour period per day for seven (7) days a week for six (6) consecutive weeks.
(5)
Provide local origination, cablecasting, and programming facilities for the community of Simi Valley on the channels required in subsection (4) of this section.
(6)
Be operationally capable of relaying a minimum capacity of twenty (20) channels in all portions of the system.
(b)
Nonbasic services. The cable television system permitted to be installed and operated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may also engage in the business of and/or provide the following services:
(1)
Transmitting television pictures, film, and videotape programs not received through broadcast television signals, whether or not encoded or processed to permit reception by only selected receivers or subscribers;
(2)
Transmitting and receiving all other signals: digital, voice, and audiovisual.
(c)
Other services.
(1)
The grantee shall maintain and operate a cablecasting studio for use by residents in producing local origination programming, in accordance with the regulations established by the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984.
(2)
The grantee shall cablecast, at their expense, regular weekly City Council meetings.
(3)
The system shall include an emergency alert capability which shall permit the City to override all television channels simultaneously in the case of Civil Defense or disaster emergencies. A grantee shall also designate a video channel which will be used for emergency broadcasts, which designation shall be included in the franchise agreement.
(4)
The grantee shall provide maximum practicable availability of the services and facilities of the system to handicapped persons. At a minimum the grantee shall provide at no additional cost a remote control device to those subscribers who are paraplegic or quadriplegic. Within six (6) months after the effective date of this agreement, the grantee shall submit to the City a plan and/or report describing the equipment, facilities and on-going services the grantee intends to or does make available to the handicapped persons. Such information regarding the facilities, equipment and on-going services for handicapped persons shall be kept updated and the grantee shall promptly submit to the City notification of any deletion or additions to such information.
(5)
The grantee shall provide rental or purchase equipment which facilitates the reception of all basic services by hearing impaired subscribers. The grantee shall also provide TDD (or equivalent) equipment at the grantee office that will allow such subscribers to contact the grantee for any reason related to the system.
(d)
Service policies.
(1)
Franchise boundaries. All residences within the franchise boundary established by the City shall be offered services in accordance with the conditions set forth in this chapter.
(2)
System expansion: Isolated subscribers.
(i)
The grantee shall extend cable television service to any isolated residence at the standard rate if:
(aa)
The resident requests the service extension; and
(ab)
The service connection to the isolated residence would require no more than a standard 100 foot aerial drop.
(ii)
The grantee shall extend cable television transmission facilities and equipment to any isolated residence requiring more than a standard 100 foot aerial drop at a premium installation charge if such service has been requested by the resident directly or through the City Manager or the Director of Environmental Services. The premium installation charge shall be the actual cost for the distance exceeding 100 feet. The grantee may request an advance payment for such installation.
(3)
System expansion: Existing developments.
(i)
The grantee shall extend cable television services to any existing development or group of residences for its standard installation charge if:
(aa)
The City Council has approved such extension as being in the best interests of the community health, safety, and welfare; and
(ab)
The existing development or group of residences to be served has a density of at least seventy-five (75) residences per strand mile or trunk line cable installed; and
(ac)
Fifty (50%) percent of the residences within the development or group of residences to be served has agreed to subscribe to receive cable services.
(ii)
Any development or group of residences not meeting any or all of the requirements set forth in subsections (aa), (ab), and (ac) of this subsection may be served at the grantee's discretion.
(iii)
The grantee shall submit to the Director of Environmental Services routing plans for the trunk line cable extensions required by the provisions of this subsection. The routing submitted shall be deemed satisfactory unless the Director of Environmental Services expressly disapproves it and sets forth in writing his/her reasons for disapproval within sixty (60) days after the receipt of the plan.
(iv)
For all expansions pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the grantee shall show proof of having obtained all the necessary right-of-way easements over private property.
(v)
For planned service upgrades, residents in the area to be upgraded shall, at a minimum, be made aware of the planned work through mailed notices to residents at least two (2) weeks prior to initiation of the work. Residents shall also be reminded of the planned work through posting of the residence by way of a door hanger not less than three (3) days prior to the actual construction.
(4)
System expansion: New developments.
(i)
In cases of new construction or property development where utilities are to be placed underground, the grantee shall extend energized or unenergized cable, or conduit, to the boundaries of all new residential developments as they are constructed. The developer shall extend said energized or unenergized cable, or conduit, from the development boundary to each dwelling unit therein. The costs of conduit, pedestals, and/or vaults and laterals, within the boundaries of the development initially shall be borne by the developer and/or landowner and shall be reimbursable by the grantee. The developer shall prewire all studio units with a minimum of one outlet, one-bedroom units with a minimum of two (2) outlets, and all other dwelling units with a minimum of three (3) outlets. Prewiring within dwelling unit structures shall not be subject to reimbursement from the grantee. All installations and construction by the developer and/or landowner shall be to specifications of the grantee. The reimbursement for the costs of the conduit, pedestals, and/or vaults and laterals, shall be based on the written estimate for such materials submitted to and approved by the grantee in advance of purchase or installation of such equipment. In the event of a dispute between the developer and/or landowner and grantee concerning the amount of said reimbursement, developers and/or landowners and grantee shall submit the disagreement to binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association; cost for such arbitration shall be equally borne by the parties. Grantee shall not be required to reimburse or in any other way compensate developer and/or landowner for easements, rights-of-way, or labor costs, nor shall grantee be required to provide service where the property owner demands payment for access.
(ii)
The grantee shall submit to the Director of Environmental Services routing plans for the trunk line cable expansion required by the provisions of this subsection. The routing submitted shall be deemed satisfactory, unless the Environmental Services Director expressly disapproves it and sets forth in writing his/her reasons for disapproval within (60) days after the receipt of the plan.
(iii)
Upon a request for service from any person residing in the franchise area, the grantee, within thirty (30) days after service is available to the area of the request, shall furnish the requested service.
(5)
System expansion: Limitations.
(i)
No provision of this chapter shall require the grantee to extend in any twelve (12) month period trunk and/or distribution lines more than ten (10) cable miles. Requests for system extensions in excess of this limitation may be deferred, at the grantee's option, to the next twelve (12) month period. Should the grantee elect to extend the system in excess of this limitation, credit for such extension shall be made against extension requirements in the next twelve (12) month period.
(ii)
Upon a petition by the grantee, the Council may defer or indefinitely suspend any expansion required by this chapter after a showing by the grantee that such expansion would cause an unreasonable financial hardship to the grantee. Such a showing shall be made by the Council after a public hearing. The City Clerk shall publish a notice of any such hearing, setting forth a time and place when and where any person having any interest therein may appear before the Council and be heard, at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the City. The City Clerk shall also cause a copy of such notice to be mailed to the grantee at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing.
(6)
Undergrounding. For any system expansion in existing developments, the grantee shall place the cable system underground in localities where both telephone and power lines are underground. For existing facilities, the grantee shall replace aerial facilities with underground facilities concurrently and in cooperation with similar programs of the telephone and power utilities. The term "underground" shall include a partial underground system as defined in Section 5-10.09(g).
At no time shall the cable system be the only aerial facility. Where undergrounding is required, the grantee shall be encouraged to share the utility trenches.
(7)
System expansion: Right-of-way. For all expansions pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the grantee shall show proof of having obtained all the necessary right-of-way easements over private property.
(e)
Subscriber complaints and customer relations. In addition to other service regulations adopted by the Council, and excepting circumstances beyond the grantee's control, such as acts of God, riots, and civic disturbances (including labor disturbances), and in providing the foregoing services, the following conditions shall be met:
(1)
Correcting malfunctions. The grantee shall limit system malfunctions to minimum time duration by locating malfunctions and initiating corrective action promptly, but in no event longer than twenty-four (24) hours after an occurrence, irrespective of holidays or other nonbusiness hours.
(2)
Demonstrating signal strengths. The grantee, upon a complaint by a subscriber and at the request of the Environmental Services Director, shall make a demonstration satisfactory to the Environmental Services Director that a signal is being delivered which is of sufficient strength and quality to meet the standards set forth in the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.
(3)
Subscriber complaints and customer relations. The grantee shall maintain a repair force of technicians capable of responding to subscriber complaints regarding outages and poor quality picture reception five (5) days a week. The grantee shall provide standby technicians as needed on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Calls for service shall be responded to within twenty-four (24) hours.
(4)
Complaint procedures.
(i)
Receipt of complaints. The grantee shall maintain a local office which is open at a minimum to receive complaints Monday through Friday, except holidays, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. A person shall be designated to receive complaints and to inform the City and the public of the office location, hours of business, and the local telephone number. The grantee shall provide an answering service to receive complaints at all other times. The grantee shall respond within twenty-four (24) hours to all complaints regarding outages and poor quality picture reception. The grantee shall provide a pre-designated block of time for subscriber service appointments. The pre-designated service appointments shall, at a minimum, be scheduled in the morning hours or in the afternoon hours with priority for next day or next "available time" service appointment given to subscribers who are not scheduled within the aforementioned schedule. Complaints regarding billing or other nontechnical issues shall be responded to by no later than the next business day. The scheduling of a service technician or other definitive action on the part of grantee shall evidence a response.
The Environmental Services Director, or/his or/her designated representative, shall assist in the resolution of customer complaints. Citizens, if they fail to receive a timely response from the grantee, may request such assistance. The grantee shall advise all new subscribers in writing of the complaint process set forth in this subsection.
(ii)
Subscriber contact logs. The grantee shall implement subscriber contact logs in which all calls from customers, dates complaints were filed, response dates from the grantee, and the date and nature of problems/resolution shall be recorded in a format approved by the City. Service calls in response to problems which recur within a week shall be flagged with an asterisk. The logs shall be submitted to the City for review on a quarterly basis. Quarterly logs are due to the Environmental Services Department by the fifteenth (15th) day following the end of each quarter. The City, in addition, will maintain a cable complaint log of those calls received directly from customers lodging a concern.
The City may conduct a random sample of the grantee's subscriber contact logs regarding the procedure, response, and resolution of complaints as well as a comparative analysis of the grantee's logs with the calls received by the City within thirty (30) days after its receipt. In the event a pattern of consistent complaints appears to be surfacing during the review, the City will notify the grantee of the concerns at the earliest possible time so that the issues can be resolved. Quarterly logs will be utilized by the City as a basis for reviewing customer complaints at the annual review.
(iii)
Response to customer complaints. The grantee shall be responsible for the resolution of all customer complaints and shall maintain on the subscriber contact logs a listing of the dates customer contacts were made, and the date and nature of resolution of the problem. The logs shall be maintained in the grantee's local office for two (2) years.
(5)
Customer relations: Notification procedures.
(i)
Procedure for requesting service. The grantee shall furnish subscribers, at the time service is installed, written instructions of the procedures for placing a service call. The instructions shall include a reminder that the subscriber can call or write the City for information regarding the cable franchise agreement and/or services. The instructions shall also include information regarding service response times.
(ii)
Planned service interruption. The grantee may conduct planned system interruptions between 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. after notifying the City and publishing notice of such interruptions and work locations in a newspaper of general circulation of the City at least two (2) calendar days prior to such interruptions. In the event a service interruption is required within less than two (2) days, the grantee shall use its best efforts to give advance notification to the affected customers. Service may be interrupted between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. for routine testing, maintenance, and repair, without notice, any morning, except Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays, provided such interruptions are limited to the shortest possible time, not to exceed sixty (60) consecutive minutes, unless the City is previously notified.
In the event of planned service upgrades, residents in the area to be upgraded shall, at a minimum, be made aware of the planned work through mailed notice to residents at least two weeks prior to initiation of the work and through the use of a door hanger to remind residents of the planned work several days prior to the actual construction.
(iii)
Office hour schedule. The grantee shall provide all customers with written notification, at the time service is installed, of the normal office hour schedule as well as the procedures for contacting the grantee at all times other than regular business hours.
(iv)
Holiday office hour schedule. The grantee shall notify subscribers of holiday office hours on their regular billing notice and by placing a notice on the grantee's local origination channel. The City shall be formally notified regarding all holiday schedules.
(6)
Property damages. Any physical damages caused by employees or subcontractors of the grantee to property shall be repaired or replaced; provided, however, this provision shall not be construed to expand the scope of the grantee's liability for property damages.
(7)
Subcontractors. The grantee shall be directly responsible for the actions of all the grantee's subcontractors in connection with their performance of the grantee's obligations under this chapter and shall take positive steps to insure that all applicable franchise provisions are met.
(8)
Technical service standards.
(i)
The City may at its own expense hire an independent technical consultant to provide a review of the cable system at any time it should be deemed necessary. Such review may include, but shall not be limited to, the following activities:
(aa)
The development of technical standards and procedures based on the capabilities of the existing system, including, but not limited to, input from the grantee;
(ab)
The establishment of an on-going technical performance monitoring program to determine if the standards and procedures are being met;
(ac)
Periodic, planned inspections of segments of the cable system to monitor the integrity of the system;
(ad)
Periodic field inspections and monitoring of the quality of picture and reception of individual subscribers' television;
(ae)
Field inspections in response to subscriber complaints or requests by the City to identify classes of problems and/or disturbances within the system in specific locations; and
(af)
Periodic inspections of construction projects currently in progress.
(ii)
The results of all independent monitorings and inspections shall be reported to the City as provided for in subsection (9) of subsection (a) and subsection (c) of Section 5-10.14 of this chapter.
(f)
Community Services.
(1)
With respect to the local government, educational, and public access channel(s), the grantee shall provide, at the request of the City Manager, the use of the grantee's studio, equipment, and technical services for the production of live and videotape community service programs, subject to the scheduling requirements of the grantee, and not to exceed five (5) hours per week for both the City and the Simi Valley Unified School District. Use in excess of such time shall be reimbursed at the grantee's actual cost.
(2)
With respect to the basic cable services, the grantee shall provide all basic cable services and a tie-in connection to the building (but not including internal wiring or installation in the building), without cost, when the system passes the following facilities on the same side of the public right-of-way:
(i)
Public schools and community colleges within the City;
(ii)
Buildings owned and controlled by the City and used for public purposes; and
(iii)
Other public facilities as designated by the Council.
(3)
Whenever it is financially and technically feasible, the grantee shall provide a cable connection for CATV broadcasts from the City Hall Council Chambers and Simi Valley Unified School Board Meeting Chambers.
(4)
The grantee shall assist in training City and school district employees for television production programming.
(5)
The grantee shall give future planning consideration in all installations initiated after May 28, 1975, for additional uses, including, but not limited to, water meter reading and fire alarm systems.
(6)
The grantee will provide an internship program for qualified high school and college students interested in pursuing careers in the field of cable television.
(g)
Compatibility and connectibility. It is the desire of the City that all cable television systems franchised pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, insofar as financially and technically feasible, shall be compatible one with another and with systems adjacent to the City, and this intent shall be considered specifically in future planning by the grantee.
(h)
Uses permitted. Any franchise granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall authorize and permit the grantee to engage in the business of operating and providing a cable television system in the City and, for that purpose, to erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, maintain, and retain in, on, over, under, upon, across, and along any street such poles, wires, cable, conductors, ducts, conduit, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, attachments, and other property as may be necessary and appurtenant to the cable television system, and, in addition, so to use, operate, and provide similar facilities or properties rented or leased from any other person, firm, or corporation, including, but not limited to, any public utility or other grantee franchised or permitted to do business in the City.
(§ 2, Ord. 719, eff. January 4, 1990)