§ 9-2. Teleservice Corporation of America
(a) Preamble. This section was passed after a full, open, and public hearing and upon consideration of the qualifications of Teleservice Corporation of America, including its legal, character, financial, and technical qualifications.
(b) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, and when not inconsistent with the context, words used herein in the present tense include the future; words used in [the] plural include the singular, and vice versa. The word "shall" is always mandatory. The captions supplied herein for each subsection are for convenience only. Said captions have no force of law, are not part of the subsection, and are not to be used in construing the language of the subsection. The following terms and phrases, as used herein, shall be given the meaning set forth below:
Federal communications commission or FCC is the present federal agency of that name as constituted by the Communications Act of 1934, or any successor agency created by the United States Congress.
Grantee is Teleservice Corporation of America, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Texas, and it is the grantee of rights under this franchise.
Parish is the Parish of Natchitoches, a parish under the laws of the State of Louisiana.
Person is any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or organization of any kind.
Police jury is the police jury of the Parish of Natchitoches, Louisiana, or its designated representative.
Street is any public street, road, or highway belonging to Natchitoches Parish, the State of Louisiana, or United States government, if it lies in the jurisdiction of Natchitoches Parish.
(c) Grant of authority. There is hereby granted by the parish to grantee the right and privilege to construct, erect, operate, and maintain in, upon, along, across, above, over, or under the streets, alleys, easements, public ways, and public places now laid out or dedicated and all extension thereof and additions thereto in the parish, all poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes, and other operation in the parish of a cable television system for the transmission of television signals and other signals either separately or upon or in conjunction with any public utility maintaining the same in the parish with all of the necessary and desirable appliances and appurtenances pertaining thereto. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, this franchise and grant shall and does hereby include the alleys, easements, and public grounds and places in the parish to install, erect, operate or in any way acquire the use of, as by leasing or licensing, all lines and equipment necessary to a cable television system and the right to make connections to subscribers and the right to repair, replace, enlarge, and extend said lines, equipment, and connections. The rights herein granted for the purposes herein set forth shall not be exclusive, and the parish reserves the right to grant a similar use of said streets, alleys, easements, public ways, and places to any person at any time during the period of this franchise; provided that nothing contained herein shall be deemed to require the granting of additional CATV franchises if, in the opinion of the police jury, it is in the public interest to restrict such franchises to one or more.
(d) Complaint procedure. Grantee shall maintain a business office or a toll-free telephone listing in the parish for the purpose of receiving inquiries and complaints from its customers and the general public. Grantee shall investigate all complaints within five (5) days of their receipt and shall in good faith attempt to resolve them swiftly and equitably. The parish official responsible for receiving and acting upon any unresolved complaints shall be the police jury secretary.
(e) Construction and maintenance.
(1) All structures, lines, and equipment erected by grantee within the parish shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper use of streets, alleys, easements, and other public ways and places and to cause minimum interference with the rights or reasonable convenience of property owners, and grantee shall comply with all reasonable, proper and lawful ordinances of the parish now or hereafter in force. If in the opinion of the police jury any such installation interferes with or hinders the use of these streets by the public or the police jury, such installations shall be removed at grantee's sole expense.
(2) In case of any disturbance by grantee of pavement, sidewalk, driveway, or other surfacing, grantee shall, at its own cost and expense and in a manner approved by the parish, replace and restore all paving, sidewalk, driveway, or surface so disturbed in as good condition as before said work was commenced.
(3) Grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a valid building moving permit, temporarily raise or lower its lines to permit the moving of the building, upon forty-eight (48) hours notice. The expense of such temporary removal shall be paid by the person requesting the same, and grantee shall have the authority to require such payment in advance.
(4) Grantee shall have the authority to trim trees upon and overhanging all streets, alleys, easements, sidewalks, and public places of the parish so as to prevent the branches of such trees from coming into contact with grantee's facilities.
(5) All poles, lines, structures, and other facilities of grantee in, on, over, and under the streets, sidewalks, alleys, easements, and public grounds or places of the parish shall be kept by grantee at all times in a safe and substantial condition.
(6) It is recognized that cable television service is a luxury service and not a service necessary to human existence. In recognizing that cable television service is not necessary to human existence, it is also established that when service is requested and extended in areas for residents to utilize, the grantee is not guaranteed a profit or fair rate of return on money invested because [it is] not guaranteed that all or any certain number [of] residents will subscribe to cable television service. For this reason it is therefore mandatory that grantee be allowed to solely determine what area or areas of Natchitoches Parish that cable television service be extended to. Grantee's decision to extend or not to extend service will be based on current cost, at a time, to construct cable plant and facilities, the number of permanent home[s] in and/or between the area to be served, and the day-to-day operational and maintenance costs of cable plant after it is constructed, with this being the only data that grantee can base [its] decision on and determine if [it] can earn a fair rate of return and show a profit on money invested. In view of the aforementioned facts it is understood that this section and/or franchise is not to be construed as a document making it mandatory that grantee extend cable television service to any area or part of Natchitoches Parish, if grantee determines that said extension would not be feasible to the operation of grantee's company for reasons of economic and financial harm or for reasons of substandard engineering not in compliance with federal communications commission regulations and rulings.
(f) FCC rules applicable. This franchise is governed by and subject to all applicable rules and regulations of the federal communications commission, specifically including Part 76, and by the laws of the State of Louisiana. Should there be any modifications of the provisions of section 76.31 of the rules and regulations of the federal communications commission which must be incorporated into this franchise, the parish and grantee agree that such incorporation shall be accomplished within one (1) year after the effective date of the FCC's adoption of the modification or upon renewal of this franchise, whichever occurs first.
(g) Franchise term. This franchise shall take effect and be in full force from and after approval by the Natchitoches Parish police jury, and the same shall continue in full force and effect for a primary term of fifteen (15) years, from the date of final passage of this section.
(h) Renewal procedure. Grantee shall have the option to request renewal of this franchise for an additional period not to exceed fifteen (15) years. Should grantee desire to exercise this option, it shall so notify the parish, in writing, not less than three (3) months prior to expiration of this franchise. Upon exercise of this option by grantee, the parish shall conduct a full, open, and public renewal proceeding. The renewal proceeding shall be held for the sole purpose of considering the performance of grantee under this franchise and any other factors deemed relevant in determining whether to renew this franchise. Renewal shall not be unreasonably denied. If this franchise is renewed by the parish, all of the terms and provisions contained herein shall be controlling during the renewal period, except to the extent that said terms and provisions are modified by the parish, or unless this franchise is superseded by a new franchise. Should the parish, for any reason, be unable to complete the renewal proceeding prior to expiration of this franchise, grantee shall have the right to continue operation of this cable television system pursuant to the terms of this franchise until such time as the renewal proceeding is concluded. Should the parish deny renewal of this franchise, such denial shall be accompanied by a written statement setting forth the reasons for the denial. Grantee shall have the right to request review of any such denial by any court of competent jurisdiction. Furthermore, in the event that the parish denies renewal, grantee shall be afforded a period of twelve (12) months following denial within which to sell, transfer, or convey this cable television system to a qualified purchaser at fair market value. During this twelve-month period, which shall run from the effective date of the final order or decision denying renewal, including any appeal, grantee shall have the right to operate this cable television system pursuant to the terms of this franchise.
(i) Forfeiture. If grantee should violate any of the terms, conditions, or provisions of this franchise or if grantee should fail to comply with any reasonable provisions of any ordinance of the parish regulating the use by grantee of the streets, alleys, easements, or public ways of the parish, and should grantee further continue to violate or fail to comply with the same for a period of thirty (30) days after grantee shall have been notified in writing by the parish to cease and desist from any such violation or failure to comply so specified, the grantee may be deemed to have forfeited and annulled and shall thereby forfeit and annul all the rights and privileges granted by this franchise; provided that such forfeiture shall be declared only by written decision of the police jury after an appropriate public proceeding before the police jury affording grantee due process and full opportunity to be heard and to respond to any such notice of violation or failure to comply; and provided further that the police jury may, in its discretion and upon a finding of violation or failure to comply, impose a lesser penalty than forfeiture of this franchise or excuse the violation or failure to comply upon a showing by grantee of mitigating circumstances. Grantee shall have the right to appeal any finding of violation or failure to comply and any resultant penalty to any court of competent jurisdiction. In the event that forfeiture is imposed upon grantee, it shall be afforded a period of twelve (12) months within which to sell, transfer, or convey this cable television system to a qualified purchaser at fair market value. During this twelve-month period, which shall run from the effective date of this final order or decision imposing forfeiture, including any appeal, grantee shall have the right to operate this cable television system pursuant to the provisions of this franchise.
(j) Franchise fee. The rights and privileges herein granted are upon the conditions that the franchisee shall pay the parish, as consideration therefor, the annual fee equal to three (3) percent of those revenues collected in the parish from the subscribers as basic monthly service charges. Said annual franchise fee shall be paid by the franchisee to the parish by the 1st day of April for the preceding calendar year.
(Ord. of 3-9-77, §§ I—XIV)
refeditor
A motion adopted May 17, 1989, provided for the addition to § 9-2 of provisions concerning a franchise fee. Such provisions have been included herein as subsection (j) and former subsections (j)—(n) were redesignated as (k)—(o) to conform to the designations within the section.
refmanual
An Ord. of Nov. 15, 2006, §§ 1—4, renewed the franchise granted in § 9-2 above, currently held by Cebridge Acquisition, L.P., d/b/a Suddenlink Communications. Sections 1—4 of said ordinance provided as follows:
Section 1. The Natchitoches Parish Police Jury does hereby extends the cable provider franchise for an additional five (5) years beginning on March 9, 2007 and ending on the March 9, 2012.
Section 2. Upon expiration of the initial term, this franchise maybe extended for two (2) additional consecutive five (5) year terms provided Grantee delivers a written notice of its intent for such additional five (5) year term to the Natchitoches Parish Police Jury at least twelve (12) months prior to the expiration of each term.
Section 3. Cebridge Acquisition, L.P., d/b/a Suddenlink Communications, is the current holder of the right, privilege and authority granted pursuant to the Franchise.
Section 4 Except as amended hereby, the Franchise shall remain in full force and effect subject to prevailing federal, state, and local law and is hereby ratified and confirmed all in respects.
refnote
See the editor's note at the end of § 9-2
(k) Surrender right. Grantee may surrender this franchise at any time upon filing with the secretary [or] president of the police jury a written notice of its intention to do so at least three (3) months before the surrender date. On the surrender date specified in the notice, all the rights and privileges and all of the obligations, duties, and liabilities of grantee in connection with this franchise shall terminate.
(l) Acceptance. This section shall become effective when accepted by grantee and shall then be and become a valid and binding contract between the parish and grantee; provided that this section shall be void unless grantee shall, within ninety (90) days after the final passage of this section, file with the secretary of the Natchitoches Parish police jury a written acceptance of this section and the franchise herein granted, agreeing that it will comply with all of the provisions and conditions hereof.
(m) Unlawful acts.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to make any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, with any part of grantee's cable television system for the purpose of enabling himself or others to receive any television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs, sounds, or any other information or intelligence transmitted over grantee's cable system without payment to grantee or its lessee.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person, without the consent of the owner, to willfully tamper with, remove, or injure any cable wires, or other equipment used for the distribution of television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs sounds, or any other information or intelligence transmitted over grantee's cable system.
(3) It shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment for a term not to exceed thirty (30) days, or both, for any person to violate any of the provisions of this subsection.
(n) Severability. If any subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this section is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any federal or state court or administrative or governmental agency of competent jurisdiction, specifically including the federal communications commission, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.
(o) Effective date. This section shall become effective upon acceptance by grantee as provided in subsection (1). The effective date shall be the date upon which the written acceptance provided for in subsection (1) is received by the secretary of the Natchitoches Parish police jury.
refstatelaw
Cable television franchise fees, R.S. 33:4461.