Source: https://www.ecode360.com/11961922
Timestamp: 2018-06-24 22:24:57
Document Index: 436151544

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 521', '§ 521', '§ 61']

Township of Evesham, NJ Cable Television
§ 61-2 Statements of findings.
§ 61-3 Municipal consent to renewal of franchise.
§ 61-4 Grant to company to install equipment.
§ 61-5 Duration of consent.
§ 61-6 Franchise territory.
§ 61-7 Franchise fee.
§ 61-8 Extension of service.
§ 61-9 Service commitments by the company.
§ 61-10 Construction requirements.
§ 61-11 Municipal complaint officer.
§ 61-12 Programming.
§ 61-13 Performance guaranty.
§ 61-14 Rates for educational institutions.
§ 61-15 Basic service.
§ 61-16 Emergency uses.
§ 61-17 Design system.
§ 61-18 Municipal consent; equipment and personnel.
§ 61-19 Liability insurance.
§ 61-20 Incorporation of application.
§ 61-21 Amendments.
§ 61-22 Severability.
§ 61-23 Consistency with future federal and state statutes and regulations.
Chapter 61: Cable Television
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Evesham 4-16-1991 by Ord. No. 15-3-1991.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also superseded former Ch. 61, Cable Television, adopted 3-6-1979 by Ord. No. 10-3-79.
Chapter 61 : Cable Television
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein. Such meanings or definitions of terms are supplemental to those definitions of the Federal Communications Commission, FCC Rules and Regulations, 47 CFR 76.1 et seq. and the Cable Communications Policy Act, 47 U.S.C. § 521 et seq., as amended, and the Cable Television Act, N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1 et seq. and shall in no way be construed to broaden, alter or conflict with the federal or state definitions:
The grantee of rights under this chapter and is known as "Garden State Cablevision, L.P."
The Township of Evesham, County of Burlington, in the State of New Jersey.
A public hearing concerning the consent herein granted to the company was held after proper public notice pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Act. Said hearing having been held as above stated and said hearing having been fully open to the public and the Township having received at said hearing all comments regarding the qualification of the company to receive this consent, the Township hereby finds that:
The company has substantially complied with its obligations under the franchise and applicable law and has provided generally satisfactory service, and the Township has no reason to believe that in the future the company would fail to comply with its obligations under a renewal of the franchise and under applicable law.
The Township hereby consents to a renewal of the franchise, subject to the terms and conditions of this chapter and upon the condition that the company accepts the provisions of this chapter and confirms, in writing, that it shall comply with all of the commitments.
At the time this municipal consent becomes effective, the Township shall renew and continue to the company its consent to place in, upon, along, across, above, over and under the highways, streets, alleys, sidewalks, public ways and public places in the Township poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes and other television conductors and fixtures necessary for the maintenance and operation in the Township of a cable television system.
The consent herein granted shall expire 10 years from the date of the expiration of the certificate of approval as issued by the Board of Public Utilities.
The consent granted under this chapter to the renewal of the franchise shall apply to the entirety of the Township and any property annexed hereto.
The company shall, during each year of operation under the consent granted herein, pay to the Township 2% of the gross revenues from all recurring charges in the nature of subscription fees paid by subscribers to its cable television reception service within the franchise territory or any amount otherwise allowed by law.
The company shall be required to proffer service along any public right-of-way to any person's residence or business located in the Township, in accordance with the proposal for the provision of services as described in the application. Any additional extension of the system will be made in accordance with the proposal in the application at Page 20, Section IX.[1]
Editor's Note: Copies of said application are on file in the Township Clerk's office.
The Township's consent to the renewal of the franchise is subject to, and expressly contingent upon, the company's written undertaking (which may be expressed by means of an amendment to the application, by any separate proposal for renewal or by the company's written statement that it accepts the provisions of this chapter) as to the following:
The company shall provide for the expansion of the existing system from 36 channels to 54 channels. Construction for such expansion shall be completed by December 31, 1994.
In order to maintain its level of telephone accessibility for calls relating to maintenance and repairs (service), and to improve it for calls relating to installation, addition or deletion of programming services, and other customer inquiries (business), the company shall comply with any and all requirements of the OCT or other regulatory bodies with respect to telephone accessibility, facilities and personnel and shall use its best efforts to comply with any OCT guidelines relating to the foregoing.
Nothing herein shall impair the right of any subscriber or the Township to express any comment or complaint with respect to telephone accessibility to the complaint officer or impair the right of the complaint officer to take any action which is appropriate under law.
During the renewal term, the company shall maintain a local office in the Township, as required under the existing franchise and as set forth in Article XI of the Initial Term Consent Ordinance,[1] provided that the company shall be relieved of such obligation upon condition that:
The company continues to maintain a telephone number by which subscribers wishing to communicate with the company for any reason can reach it, by a toll-free telephone call;
Such toll-free number shall be published on every monthly bill and in its monthly cable guide, if applicable, and in the majority of the other promotional or other public information which the company disseminates to subscribers in the Township; and
In the event that the company requires the converter or other equipment provided to a subscriber to be exchanged in order for such subscriber to maintain his or her current level of service, the company shall either cause such exchange to be effected by delivery of the equipment to the subscriber's home (and, to the extent necessary, at night or on a weekend), at no cost to the subscriber, or allow customer pickup at a designated location of the company.
Editor's Note: A copy of said ordinance is on file in the Township Clerk's office.
Locally originated programming. The Township acknowledges the existence and availability of the Lenape High School District educational access channel. While additional public and governmental access channels are not desired at present, the Township reserves the right to seek such additional services and the company agrees to negotiate with the Township in good faith regarding the provisions of such services. This reserved option shall be subject to all applicable federal and state statutes, regulations, rules and orders.
Restoration. In the event that the company or its agents shall disturb any public or private pavement. street surfaces, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, driveways, landscaping, trees, shrubs or other surfaces in the natural topography, the company shall, at its sole expense, restore and replace such places or things so disturbed in not less than as good condition as existed prior to the commencement of said work.
Relocation. If at any time during the period of this consent the Township shall alter or change the grade of any street, alley or other way or place, the company, upon reasonable notice by the Township, shall, at its own expense, remove, relay and relocate its equipment.
Removal and/or trimming of trees. The company may, in carrying out its usual operation, reasonably and prudently trim trees which are under the jurisdiction of the Township or other public body to the extent necessary, upon and overhanging public streets, alleys, sidewalks and places within the Township, to prevent the branches of such trees from coming in contact with the wires and cables of the company. Said removal and trimming may only take place following approval by the Director of Public Works as to trees under Township jurisdiction, approval by such other public body as has jurisdiction over the trees intended to be trimmed and reasonable notice to the owner of any privately owned tree. Such trimming shall not exceed that necessary to maintain proper clearance for the company's wires and cable.[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 144, Trees and Shrubs.
The Office of Cable Television is hereby designated as the complaint officer for Evesham Township pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:5A-26b. All complaints shall be received and processed in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:17-7.1.
Although nothing herein shall require the company to carry or transmit any particular television stations or programming source, the company shall provide the subscribers in the Township with at least the same broad categories of programming as are now provided and which appear in the application.
During the life of the franchise, the company shall give a guaranty to the Township of Evesham, which guaranty shall be in the amount of $25,000.
Such guaranty shall be to ensure the faithful performance of all undertakings of the company as represented in its application for municipal consent incorporated herein.
The Township will not regulate the rates the company may charge subscribers for its service, provided that, in the event that the federal act and other applicable law hereafter is amended to permit the exercise of regulatory power over rates by municipalities, the Township reserves the right to exercise the maximum power permitted by law.
The company shall continue to provide the installation of one outlet and basic monthly service to each school, public or private, and library in the Township free of charge. Each additional outlet installation shall be paid for by the institution on a materials-plus-labor basis. Monthly service on such additional outlets shall be charged at the regular tariffed rates for additional outlets.
The Township will abide by the rules and regulations agreed upon by the State Police of New Jersey and the Cable Television Network (CTN) for the establishment and distribution of an emergency alert network.
The company shall provide one channel which shall be a combined governmental and educational access channel, all as defined by applicable federal law in accordance with Section IV-6, Page 13, of the company's application.
The company shall maintain space available for a statewide interconnect channel as may be developed by the State of New Jersey.
The Township finds that the language provided on Page 13, Section IV-5, of the application for municipal consent is reasonable.[1]
The applicant will have the following equipment available for its own use in providing color and black and white local origination programming: complete mobile unit, cameras. recorders, monitors, lights and microphones.
Production equipment and facilities shall be available to local access channel users upon proper written request.
The company shall at all times maintain a comprehensive general liability insurance policy with a single limit amount of $1,000,000 covering liability for any death, personal injury, property damages or other liability arising out of its construction and operation of the cable television system and an excess liability (or "umbrella") policy in the amount of $10,000,000.
We note that any portion of the application which is in conflict with the provisions of the Cable Television Act, N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1 et seq., the Cable Communications Policy Act, 47 U.S.C. § 521 et seq., and/or FCC Rules and Regulations, 47 CFR 76.1 et seq., as amended, is not to be construed as effective under the terms of this chapter.[1]
Subject to the requirements of the federal Act and approval by the Board, the Township reserves the ability to amend any portion of this chapter as it relates to its police powers after public hearing.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court or federal or state agency of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not effect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.
Should any of the federal or state statutes, regulations or pronouncements applicable to the regulation of cable television be modified in any way, such modifications, to the extent that they embody required terms and conditions and meaningfully can be incorporated into this chapter, shall be so incorporated, consistent with any applicable effective dates specified in such modification. To the extent that any such modification places limits on permissible terms and conditions and any provision of this chapter becomes invalid by virtue of such modification, the preceding § 61-22 shall apply.