Sec. 8-1. - Definitions.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall have meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning.

"CATV" means a community antenna television system consisting of systems of antennas, co-axial cables, wires, wave guides or other conductors, equipment or facilities, designed, constructed or used for the purpose of providing television or FM radio service by cable or through its facilities as contemplated by this chapter.

"Gross revenues" or "gross annual receipts" means any and all cash, credits, property or other consideration of any kind or nature of a licensee, its affiliates, or any person in which a licensee has a financial interest, or by any other entity that is a multichannel service operator of a system, arising from, attributable to, or in any way derived from the operation of the licensee's system to provide cable services and occasioned by the grant of the license, including the facilities associated therewith. Gross revenues include, by way of illustration and not limitation, periodic fees charged subscribers for any basic, optional, premium, per-channel, or per-program service; installation, disconnection, reconnection, and change-in-service fees; leased channel fees; late fees and administrative fees; fees, payments or other consideration received from programmers for carriage of programming on the system; revenues from rentals or sales of converters or other equipment related to cable service; advertising revenues barter; revenues from program guides; revenues from the sale or carriage of two-way interactive cable services, including internet services, provided such internet services are considered to be cable services under federal law; and the sale or lease of information services equipment such as cable modems; and revenues from home shopping and bank-at-home channels. Gross revenues shall not include studio rental, tower rental, production equipment and personnel fees. Gross revenues shall be the basis for computing the license fee under any license.

"Service Area" means the unincorporated area of this county in which a licensee is authorized pursuant to this chapter, to construct, maintain or operate a CATV system.

(Ord. No. 5118 § 1, 1998: Ord. No. 1638 § 1.)

Sec. 8-2. - Permits, etc., installation and service generally.

(a)

Within thirty (30) days after acceptance of any license granted under the provisions of this chapter, the licensee shall proceed, with due diligence, to obtain all necessary permits and authorizations which are required in the conduct of its business, including but not limited to any utility joint use attachment agreements, microwave carrier licenses, zoning approval, encroachment permits and any other permits, licenses and authorizations to be granted by duly constituted regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the operation of CATV systems, or their associated microwave transmission facilities.

(b)

Within ninety (90) days after obtaining all necessary permits, licenses and authorizations, the licensee shall commence construction and installation of the CATV system.

(c)

Within ninety (90) days after the commencement of construction and installation of the system, the licensee shall proceed to render service to subscribers, and the completion of the construction and installation shall be pursued with reasonable diligence thereafter, so that service to all areas designated in the license shall be provided within one year from commencement of construction.

(d)

Failure on the part of the licensee to commence and diligently pursue each of the foregoing requirements and to complete each of the matters set forth herein shall be grounds for termination of such license. The board of supervisors, in its discretion, may extend the time for the commencement and completion of construction and installation.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 17.)

Sec. 8-3. - Location and construction of facilities generally—Undergrounding.

(a)

Any poles, wires, cable lines, conduits or other properties of a licensee under the provisions of this chapter to be installed in streets shall be installed only at such locations and in such manner as shall be approved by the director of public works and shall conform to all applicable laws.

(b)

The licensee shall not install or erect any facilities or apparatus in or on other public property, places or rights of way, or within any privately owned area within the county which has not yet become a public street but is designated or delineated as a proposed public street on any tentative subdivision map approved by the county except those installed or erected upon existing or future public utility facilities, without obtaining the prior written approval of the director of public works and the owner of the property involved.

(c)

In those areas and portions of the county where the transmission or distribution facilities of the public utility providing telephone service and those of the utility providing electric service are underground or are subsequently placed underground, then the licensee, immediately upon written instruction by the director of public works, shall construct or reconstruct, operate, relocate and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground. For the purposes of this subsection "underground" shall include a partial underground system, e.g., streamlining. Amplifiers in licensee's transmission and distribution lines may be in appropriate housings upon the surface of the ground as approved by the director of public works. The county shall not, in any manner, be responsible for costs incurred by a licensee in placing its facilities underground pursuant to this section.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 18.)

Sec. 8-4. - Use of telephone facilities.

When and in the event that the grantee of any license granted under the provisions of this chapter uses in his CATV system distribution channels furnished to the grantee by a telephone company pursuant to tariff or contract on file with the public utilities commissions of the state and such grantee makes no use of the streets independent of such telephone company furnished facilities, such grantee shall be required to comply with all of the provisions of this chapter as a "licensee" and in such event whenever the term "grantee" is used herein it shall be deemed to mean and include "licensee." No provisions of this chapter shall be deemed or construed as requiring the granting of a franchise hereunder to a telephone company furnishing such a channel service.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 2.)

Sec. 8-5. - Public use priority.

No privilege or exemption is granted or conferred by any license granted under the provisions of this chapter, except those specifically prescribed in this chapter. Any privilege claimed under a license granted pursuant to this chapter in any street shall be subordinate to any prior or subsequent lawful occupancy of the street for public purposes.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 9.)

Sec. 8-6. - Removal and abandonment of facilities.

(a)

In the event that the use of any part of a CATV system is discontinued for any reason for a continuous period of twelve (12) months, or in the event such system or property has been installed in any street or public place without complying with the requirements of this chapter or the license therefor has been terminated, cancelled or has expired, the licensee shall promptly, upon being given ten (10) days' notice, remove from the streets or public places all such property and poles of such system other than any which the director of public works may permit to be abandoned in place. In the event of such removal, the licensee shall promptly restore the street or other area from which such property has been removed to a condition satisfactory to the director of public works.

(b)

Any property of a licensee remaining in place sixty (60) days after the termination, forfeiture or expiration of his license shall be considered permanently abandoned. The director of public works may extend such time not to exceed an additional thirty days.

(c)

Any property of the licensee to be abandoned in place shall be abandoned in such a manner as the director of public works shall prescribe. Subject to the provisions of any utility joint use attachment agreement, upon permanent abandonment of the property of the licensee in place, the property shall become that of the county and the licensee shall submit to the director of public works an instrument in writing, to be approved by the county counsel, transferring to the county the ownership of such property.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 19.)

Sec. 8-7. - Changes required by public improvements. ^[69]

The licensee under the provisions of this chapter shall, at his expense, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate in the same street or other public place, or remove from the street or other public place, any property of such licensee when required by the director of public works by reason of traffic conditions, public safety, street vacation, freeway and street construction, change or establishment of street grade, installation of sewers, drains, water pipes, power lines, signal lines and tracks or any other type of structures or improvements by public agencies; provided, however, that the licensee shall in all such cases have the privileges and be subject to the obligations to abandon any property of the licensee in place, as provided in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 20.)

Sec. 8-8. - Effect of failure to perform required street, etc., work; shielding, filtering and grounding. ^[70]

Upon failure of any licensee under the provisions of this chapter to commence, pursue or complete any work required by law or by the provisions of this chapter or by his license to be done in any street or other public place, within the time prescribed, and to the satisfaction of the director of public works, the director of public works may, at his option, cause such work to be done and the licensee shall pay to the county the cost thereof in the itemized amounts reported by the director of public works to the licensee within thirty (30) days after receipt of such itemized report.

The licensee shall at his expense install and maintain adequate shielding, filtering and grounding at affected installations within the CATV system to eliminate television interference from fundamental frequency overload by radio amateur transmissions which are in compliance with federal communication regulations.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 21.)

Sec. 8-9. - Operational standards.

The CATV system shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the highest and best accepted standards of the industry to the effect that subscribers shall receive the highest possible level of service. In determining the satisfactory extent of such standards the following among others shall be considered.

(a)

The system should be installed using all band equipment capable of passing the entire UHF and FM spectrum, and it shall have the capability of converting UHF for distribution to subscribers on the UHF band.

(b)

The system as installed shall be capable of passing standard color TV signals without the introduction of material degradation on color fidelity and intelligibility.

(c)

The system and all equipment shall be designed and rated for twenty-four (24) hour per day continuous operation.

(d)

The system shall provide a nominal signal level of two thousand (2,000) microvolts, measured across three hundred (300) ohms, at the input terminals of each television receiver.

(e)

The system signal-to-noise ratio shall be not less than forty (40) decibels.

(f)

Hum modulation of the picture signal shall be less than five percent (5%).

(g)

The system shall employ components having a VSWR of 1.4 or less.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 25.)

Sec. 8-10. - Service to subscribers generally.

No person in the existing service area of the grantee shall be arbitrarily refused service; provided, however, that a licensee under the provisions of this chapter shall not be required to provide service to any subscriber who does not pay the applicable connection fee or monthly service charge.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 27.)

Sec. 8-11. - Subscriber rates and charges.

A licensee may make a reasonable charge to subscribers for the installation of or connection to its CATV system and may charge reasonable fixed monthly charges for the providing of such service. A schedule showing such installation and connection charges and monthly service charges shall be filed with the licensee's application for a license. Said schedule of charges must be approved by the board before such fees and charges may be collected. Each licensee shall annually thereafter file a current schedule of installation and connection charges and monthly service charges. Such filing shall be made at the same time and in the same manner as the filing of financial statements required pursuant to this chapter. No increase in rates or other charges to subscribers shall be made without the prior written approval of the board of supervisors. The filing of annual schedules of installation and connection charges and monthly service charges pursuant to this section shall not be deemed to be authority to increase such charges unless prior written approval has been obtained from the board of supervisors.

No license granted under the provisions of this chapter shall be construed as a permit or license to transmit any special program or event for which a separate and distinct charge is made to the subscriber in the manner commonly known and referred to as "pay television" and no licensee shall directly or indirectly install, maintain or operate on any television set, a coin box, or any other device or means for collection of money for individual programs.

(Ord. No. 1638 § 1.)

Sec. 8-12. - Subscriber contract.

Before providing antenna service to any subscriber, a licensee under the provisions of this chapter shall obtain a signed contract from the subscriber containing a provision substantially as follows:

Subscriber understands that in providing antenna service (licensee) is regulated by chapter 8 of the Sonoma County code and making use of public rights of way within the county of Sonoma and that the continued use of these public rights of way is in no way guaranteed. In the event the continued use of such rights of way is denied to (licensee) for any reason, (licensee) will make every reasonable effort to provide service over alternate routes. Subscriber agrees that he will make no claim nor undertake any action against the County of Sonoma, its officers, or its employees, if the service to be provided by (licensee) hereunder is interrupted or discontinued.

The form of the licensee's contract with its subscribers shall be subject to approval of the county counsel.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 28.)

Sec. 8-13. - Unauthorized connections and tampering.

No person shall make any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively or otherwise, with any part of a licensed CATV system within the unincorporated area of this county for the purpose of taking or receiving television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs or sound. Also, no person, without the consent of the owner, shall tamper with, remove or injure any cables, wires or equipment used for distribution of television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs or sound.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 38.)

Sec. 8-14. - Annexation, etc., of service area.

Whenever any portion of the territory covered by a license under the provisions of this chapter shall be annexed to, or otherwise become a part of any incorporated city or of any other county, the county's rights hereunder shall inure to the benefit of such other public body and its appropriate officers.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 40.)

Sec. 8-15. - Adjustment, etc., of disputes, etc.

The board of supervisors may do all things necessary and convenient in the exercise of its jurisdiction under this chapter and may determine any question of fact which may arise during the existence of any license granted hereunder. Such board may adjust, settle or compromise any controversy or cancel any charge arising from the operations of any licensee or from any provision of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 16.)

Sec. 8-16. - Exceptions.

The board of supervisors may, upon the filing of an appropriate request therefor, except CATV systems from the operation of this chapter if such board finds and determines that:

(a)

The system is operated for the benefit of a limited group of individuals within a specified area, and

(b)

The system is maintained solely for the convenience of such group, and

(c)

The system is not available to the general public, and

(d)

The system is not operated for profit.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 37.)

Sec. 8-17. - Amendment of chapter.

During the term of any license granted under the provisions of this chapter, the county may amend any section or part of this chapter so as to require additional or greater standards of construction, operation, maintenance or otherwise, on the part of the licensee, including the payment of a larger or greater percentage of the gross annual receipts of any licensee for the remaining term of such license. If this chapter is amended to require additional or greater standards, the licensee within ninety days after the effective date of such amendment shall comply with the new standards.

Prior to adoption of such amendments, the board of supervisors shall conduct a public hearing thereon. Notice thereof shall be given to all licensees hereunder by registered United States mail directed to each licensee at the address specified on the license application and by publication in a newspaper of general circulation once, no less than ten days prior to such hearing; provided, however, that unintentional failure to give such notice shall not affect the validity of any amendments adopted by the board of supervisors. Such hearing may be continued from time to time, and the board of supervisors may direct the department of public works to investigate and conduct collateral hearings on technical aspects of the proposed amendments, as it deems appropriate.

(Ord. No. 1068 § 15.)