HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 18936ORDINANCE No. -$~3(.p
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 18284
ENTITLED "AN ORDINANCE GRANTING To TELEPROMPTER
CORPORATION A NON~E~CLUSIVE FRANCHISE FOR THE
OPERATION OF A CABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM."
THE CITY OF EUGENE DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. As presented in this ordinance only the portions
of Ordinance No. 18284 adopted October 23, 1978, which are hereby
amended are reproduced. All other provisions of Ordinance No.
18284 are hereby affirmed.
Section 2. Section 3 of Ordinance No. 18284 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 3. "Access Center" means the studio, facilities
and equipment provided by grantee under the terms of this
franchise and used for cablecasting non-commercial public,
educational and local government programming.
"Access Channels" means those channels required by this
ordinance to be kept available by the grantee for partial or
total dedication to public access, educational access, local
government access, and leased access.
"Basic Service" means those services provided by the
grantee for standard installation charge and a regular
monthly charge paid by all subscribers.
"Cable Communications S stem" or "system" means a system
of antennas, cable, amplifiers, towers, microwave links,
Ord i Hance -- 1
18936
waveguides, laser beams, satellites, earth stations, or any
other conductors, converters, equipment, or facilities,
designed and constructed for the purpose of producing,
receiving, amplifying, storing, processing or distributing
audio, video, digital, or other forms of electronic or
electrical signals.
"Commission" means the Metropolitan Area Cable
Tv/Translator Commission established by Lane County, the
City of Eugene, and the City of Springfield.
"Converter" means an electronic device, which converts
signals to a frequency not susceptible to interference within
the television receiver of a subscriber, and increases the
number of channels the subscriber may select.
Eugene-Springfield} "Franchise territor " means the
area within the legal boundaries of the grantor and including
any areas annexed during the term of the franchise,
Lane County} "Franchise territory" means the unincor-
porated area of the grantor within the Urban Service Boundary
existing at the date of the franchise as those boundaries
are designated by the Metropolitan Area General Plan adopted
by Lane County, the City of Eugene, and the City of
Springfield; and any other areas mutually agreed to by the
grantee and the commission.
"Gross annual revenues" means any and all compensation
in whatever form, grant, subsidy, exchange, or otherwise,
directly or indirectly received by grantee,
ordinance - ~
18436
"Monitorin " means observing a one-way communicatan
signal, or the absence of a signal, where the observer is
neither the subscriber nor the programmer, where the signal
is observed by visual or electronic means far any purpose
whatsoever.
"Pay Television" means television signals for which the
grantee must pay a fee or charge other than statutory copy-
right fees, on a per program, per channel, per subscriber or
similar basis. Provided, however, "pay television" does not
include television signals which are broadcast anywhere and
received at any place without the use of special reception
devices, nor does it include television signals which are
included in the services described in Section 5 of this
franchise.
"Rate Schedule" means the charges for subscriber service
approved by the grantor.
"Standard Installation Charge" means the cost to the
subscriber for connection to the cable communication system
in the amount specified in the current rate schedule.
"Streets" means the surface of and the space above and
below any public street, sidewalk, alley easement, or other
dedicated public way of any type whatsoever, now or hereafter
existing as such within the jurisdiction of the grantor.
"Subscriber" means any person, firm, corporation, or
other entity receiving electronic signals by means of the
grantee's cable communications system.
Ordinance ~ 3
I$936
"Plan submitted to grantee" means the service develop-
ment plan submitted by grantee to grantor as part of the
negotiations between grantor and grantee which preceded the
adoption of the ordinance as appendix A and is incorporated
by reference herein.
Section 3. Section 5 of Ordinance No. 18284 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
fly Channel Capacity. The cable communication system
operated by grantee at the time this franchise was adopted
provided 14 channels and was increased to 27-channel capacity
in accordance with the plan submitted by grantee which is
appendix A to this ordinance. Before grantee further
increases the channel capacity of its cable system, it shall
submit to the Commission reports containing relevant infor-
mation identified in Section 13 of this Ordinance no later
than 6D days before undertaking installation of equipment to
allow the Commission to review and comment on the proposal.
The obligations of the grantee and the Commission as provided
in Section 13 of this Ordinance shall apply to these reports
and the grantee's submissions under Section 13 of this
Ordinance may be in lieu of this requirement if submitted
more than 64 days before grantee undertakes installation of
equipment.
Ordinance - 4
(8936
~2} Basic Service. ~a} Basic service shall include all
the telecast signals carried by the system an channels 3
through 13 as of January 1, 1982. Commencing with the broad-
casting of television signals by a third local station with
national network affiliation, but in any event before January
1, 1983, basic service shall include the following television
signals on channels 2 through 13:
KEZI The third local station w/network
affiliation
K4AC One access channel
KaZY ESPN
KPTV Westinghouse 24-hour new network
KVAL CBS cable
Time-weather
As a substitute for interrupted signals and duplicate
programming grantee may substitute programming from other
broadcasts of cablecast signals. 1f new signals become
available which grantee believes will be more marketable, or,
if grantee is unable to provide the listed television signals
because of circumstances reasonably beyond its control,
equivalent, superior or required signals will be substituted,
subject to the Commission's approval. In no event shall sub-
scribers be required to subscribe to any ather service as a
condition for obtaining basic service.
fib} when a channel in Basic Service is dedicated
for access programming, the provisions of this paragraph
shall be of no force and affect. At least until the number
Ordinance - 5
18436
of activated channels is increased, public, educatianal, and
governmental access use of one channel shall have priority
over local origination programming of the grantee, subject to
giving grantee not less than 48 hours' prior written notice
if a specific time period is requested far access
programming. Upon a showing of grantee that an individual or
group has requested a specific time for public, educational
and governmental access programming and has failed to provide
programming for that time, grantee may deny future requests
for specific times from that individual or group; such
individual or group whose future requests~s} is denied shall
have the right to appeal to the Commission, whose decision
shall be final.
~3} Co___~ntr_ol Ke s. Pay television subscribers shall,
upon request, be supplied with control keys at a reasonable
monthly charge to limit viewing of pay television on indivi-
dual television sets.
~4} Additional Tiered Service. ~a} Upon completion of
the plan submitted by grantee appendix A}, grantee will
immediately offer an optional service package, using canver-
tens, consisting of at least the following broadcast,
satellite, and automated channels;
CHEK victoria, BC
KSTW Tacoma, Washington
KATU Portland, Oregon fall programming permitted
by FCC rules}
ordinance -- 6
18936
CBN 24--hour religious programming from satellite
WTBS Atlanta, Georgia
ESPN Sports
SPN Independent
Two access channels
When ESPN is included in basic service KTVU, Oakland,
California, shall become part of this tiered service. Except
for channels allocated for access channels, if any of these
4`
services are not available or if new signals become available
which grantee believes will be more marketable, equivalent
programming will be substituted, subject to the Commission's
approval.
~b~ Except as provided in this paragraph there
will be no charge for this additional service. Subscribers
may purchase a converter from grantee at grantee's cost or
elsewhere, or may rent a converter from grantee at a monthly
charge not to exceed $x,00 which shall include maintenance
service by grantee. If grantee delivers and installs a con-
verter at a subscriber's request, grantee may charge an
installation fee as approved by the Commission.
~c~ In addition, at the time of any rate review and
on the franchise review dates referred to in Section 1~~~~,
the subject of converters and additional channels may be re-
opened by grantee or the Commission for determination of
whether converters should be made mandatory throughout the
system or should continue on an optional basis, and whether
ordinance - 7
18936
or how additional channels are to be made available within
the system. The procedure set forth in Section 162}~c}
shall apply to this Paragraph 5 ~4} ~c} .
Any determinations under this subsection 5~4} shall be
based upon consideration of at least the following factors:
~i} The need for additional channels and availa-
bility of additional programming, including access channels
and programming as defined in Section 3;
iii} The availability of devices and technology far
increasing the number of activated channels, including
various types of converters, built-in capacity of television
receivers, and any other relevant technology developments;
and
viii} The probable costs and benefits to subscribers.
~5} Service to Institutions. Upon request, the grantee
shall make single installations of its cable communication
system facilities to each fire and police station, public
school, City Hall, County Courthouse and all public libraries
within the franchise territory on the terms provided in
Section 7~2} of this ordinance except no standard installa-
tion fee shall be imposed for such installations. No monthly
service charge shall be made for distribution of the services
described in this section to these locations.
~6} Access Facilities and Equipment. ~a} Grantee shall
maintain a studio within the franchise territory with facili-
ordinance - S
18936
ties and equipment for access program origination. Grantee
shall by December 31, 1982, make available to the Commission
a premises for the access center under terms and conditions
mutually agreed to by grantee and the Commission and purchase
equipment for the access center as directed by the Commission
for a cost to grantee of no less than $140,000, Grantee
shall purchase additional equipment as directed by the
Commission for a cast to grantee of no less than $60,000 by
December 31, 1983. In addition, for calendar years 1982,
1983 and 1984, grantee shall provide: one full-time tech-
nician employed by grantee to maintain the access center
equipment and shall pay the Commission or its designee for
operation of the access center $50,000 per year on or before
January 31 of each year, except in 1982 payment shall be made
within 30 days of grantee's acceptance of this amendment to
the franchise ordinance. No later than September 30, 1983,
grantee and Commission shall review the use and financial
support for the access center, the potential for increasing
community use and financial participation and the possibility
of adjusting grantee's and grantor's financial support.
~b~ Grantee shall maintain studio, facilities, and
equipment in satisfactory condition both electronically and
mechanically without charge.
~c} Until the access center is cablecasting
programs on the dedicated channel within basic service, gran-
tee shall continue to operate a studio and equipment for
ordinance - 9
/8936
access programming as provided in subsections ~6} and ~7} of
Section 6 of the franchise ordinance before adoption of this
amending ordinance.
~7} Access Channels. Grantee shall provide one channel
dedicated for public, educational and local government access
programming within the basic services as provided in subsec-
tion ~2} of this section. Grantee shall also provide two
additional access channels one of which shall be capable of
being viewed on channel 4 with a decoding device. There
shall be no monthly charges or rental for the device which
grantee shall sell to subscribers at grantee's cost.
Grantee's charge for installation of the device shall be an
amount approved by the Commission, within 120 days of writ-
ten notice to the grantee by the Commission, grantee shall
provide a fourth access channel when the other three channels
are scheduled with new programming $0~ of prime time daily
6:00 p.m, to 11:00 p.m. } and when the balance of the cable-
cast day daily 8:00 a.m, to 6:00 p.m.} is scheduled 60~ of
the time. The percentages will be measured over a 90-day
period.
~$} Emergency Use. In the case of any emergency or
disaster, the grantee shall, upon request of the grantor,
make available its facilities far emergency use during the
emergency or disaster period at no cost to the grantor. The
system shall be designed so that viewers on all channels can
receive immediate notice of the emergency cablecast.
Ordinance - 10
i$936
Section 4. Subsection ~G} ~c} of Section 6 of ordinance
No. 18284 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 6. Rates for Installation and Services.
~ 6 } Rate Change Procedures.
~c} In all rate review proceedings, the issue
shall be whether the rates} under review produce a fair rate
of return on grantee's investment in the system serving the
franchise area and whether grantee is in compliance with the
terms of this ordinance. The rate of return shall be calcu--
lated by dividing the following numerator by the denominator;
NUMERATOR shall be the sum of the net income after
federal taxes for each of the past three calendar years.
DENOMINATOR shall be the sum of the average assets far
each of the past three calendar years. Each year's "average
assets" will be determined by adding the net property, plant
and equipment plus working capital allowance at the beginning
of the year to the net property, plant and equipment plus
working capital allowance at the end of the year and then
dividing that sum by two. "Working capital allowance" is
calculated by subtracting from annual operating costs the sum
of annual depreciation and interest and then multiplying the
result by .12329.
The burden of establishing the reasonableness of a rate
change shall be upon the party requesting the rate change.
ordinance -~ 11
18936
Section 5, Subsections ~1} and ~2} of Section 16 of
ordinance No. 18284 are hereby amended to read as follows:
~`^^~-~ 16 t' R 1 d R t` t'on
~1}
on Dura ian, enewa an ene o is i
Duration and Renewal. This franchise and the
rights and privileges granted herein shall take effect thirty
~ 30 } days after the date this ordinance is passed by the
grantor and remain in effect for fifteen X15} years from that
date unless terminated sooner under provisions of subsection
~4} of this section; provided, however, that the terms of the
franchise must be unconditionally accepted by the grantee in
writing, signed by an officer of the corporation within
thirty X30} days after the date this ordinance is passed by
the grantor. At the end of the initial 15-year term, at the
discretion of grantor this franchise may be renewed for an
additional ten X10}
it is in substantial
of the franchise and
the written programs
the franchise review
this section.
year term upon a showing by grantee that
compliance with the terms and conditions
is rendering services and implementing
and policies in effect resulting from
process established in subsection ~2} of
~2} Franchise Review. ~a} As need arises, and at
least at the end of the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th years of the
term of the franchise, the Commission shall meet to review
the franchise performance, generally, and in particular, the
following matters:
ordinance - 12
18936
~i} Use of channel space, including public access
channels and programming, and the need for activation of
additional channels as set forth in Section 5~4};
iii} Service extension policies set forth in
Section 7, including, but not limited to, changes in urban
service boundaries affecting areas to be served by grantee;
viii} Technical adequacy of the system, including,
but not limited to, picture quality, two-way transmission
capacity, and compliance with standards set forth in
Section S;
Div} New technological, regulatory, or legal level--
opments affecting the franchise, grantee's operation, or
grantor's regulatory authority hereunder, and including
changes in FCC authority, rules, or regulations; and
~v} The franchise fee set forth in Section 10.
Zvi} Cable services and programming available in
comparable systems to grantee's, "Comparable systems" shall
mean those systems with similar facilities, equipment, chan-
nel capacity, age of franchise and system and number of
subscribers and population served,
fib} The grantee shall be represented at these meetings
by a representative of the corporation authorised to speak on
behalf of the head off ice of the corporation on questions of
corporate practice, policy, plans, or other matters con-
cerning the cable communications system in the franchise
territory.
ordinance - 13
18936
~c} Any matters within the categories enumerated in
Subsection ~z}~a} above, on which agreement is not reached
after good faith negotiation in the course of these review
proceedings, shall be submitted to binding arbitration pur-~
suant to Section 15 herein, without need of further agreement
to arbitrate, as otherwise required in Section 154}. Upon
decisions of the arbitrators}, this ordinance shall be
amended to the extent necessary to implement said decision.
Section 6. Section 23 of ordinance No. 182$4 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 23. Access Pro rammin .
~1} When a channel in basic service is dedicated for
access programming, the provisions of this subsection shall
be of no force and effect. Grantee will provide all
available time on KOZY-TV up to 1$ hours per broadcast day,
with the exception of the 24-hours per week of religious
programming currently provided, for general public--access
programming. When the hours available for public-access
programming are not being used for that purpose, grantee will
continue to program the channel for those unused hours.
{2} The Commission shall operate and control the access
center and the four access channels provided by grantee in
Subsection 6t?} of this ordinance when used for non-
commercial purposes. The Commission's use of the access
channels shall have priority over other uses except upon
ordinance -- 14
18936
prior approval by the Commission. The Commission shall adopt
rules and regulations for the operation and control of the
access center and use of the access channels, none of which
shall be contrary to grantee's obligations under the law.
The rules and regulations shall ~a~ prohibit the presentation
of any advertising material designed to promote the sale of
commercial products or services tincluding advertising by or
on behalf of political candidates for office} , lottery infor-
mation and obscene or indecent matter; ~b~ require non-
discriminatory access and rates; ~c7 require the maintenance
of records regarding request for and use of the access center
and access channels; and ~d} provide for public inspection of
the records and further provide grantee with copies thereof
weekly.
Section 7. This ordinance shall take effect 30 days after
the date this !ordinance is passed by the grantor; provided
however, that the terms of these amendments to ordinance
No. 18284 must be unconditionally accepted by grantee in writing,
signed by an officer of the corporation within 30 days after the
date this ordinance is passed by the City Council.
Passed by the City Council this Approved by the Mayor this
day of ~~~, 1982~r day of ~~R, , 1982
J~ , ~/v
~"...~ ~
City Recorder M yor
ordinance - 15