§ 30-18. Tests and performance monitoring.

(a)

Submission of copies. A copy of any performance test report(s) required by the FCC shall be submitted to the county upon written request by the county within 60 days of completion.

(b)

County required tests. The county may require additional tests, full or partial repeat tests, different test procedures, or tests involving a specific subscriber's terminal if substantial problems exist with the system as documented by the county. Reports on such tests shall be delivered to the county no later than 14 days after the county formally notifies the franchisee. The report shall include the following information: the nature of the complaints which precipitated the special tests, what system component was tested, the equipment used, and procedures employed in said testing, the results of such tests, and methods by which the complaints were resolved. Said tests and analyses shall be supervised by a franchisee engineer, who shall sign all records of the special tests and forward same to the county with a report interpreting the results of the tests and recommending what actions should be taken. If the problem is not corrected, the county may request the franchisee to retain an independent engineer to conduct such tests, and such tests shall be at the expense of the franchisee if the test reveals that the problem has not been corrected. If the problem has been corrected prior to the retention of said independent engineer, the county shall bear all such expense.

(c)

General maintenance. The franchisee shall maintain wires, cables and all other real and personal property and facilities constituting the system in good condition, order and repair at all times during the term of the franchise.

(d)

Maintenance log. The franchisee shall maintain an annual log showing the date, approximate time and duration, type and probable cause of all system outages, whole or partial, due to causes other than routine testing or maintenance. The entries in such log shall be retained by the franchisee for one additional year and shall be subject to inspection by the county manager during the franchisee's regular business hours upon reasonable request.

(e)

Service interruption. Except where there exists an emergency situation necessitating a more expeditious procedure, the franchisee may interrupt service for the purpose of repairing, upgrading or testing the system during periods of minimum use, where possible, and only for major repair which requires the system to be out of service for a significant period of time, after a minimum of 48 hours notice to affected subscribers.

(f)

Performance evaluation.

(1)

Performance report. Upon request, in accordance with the schedule specified in this section, the franchisee shall submit a performance report to the county manager with respect to the following:

a.

A summary of the previous year's activities and development of the system, including status of construction if any, technical performance of the system, services begun or dropped, development of interactive capability, and level of and response to customer complaints;

b.

Availability of leased channels and adequacy of leased channel capacity and recommendations for changes, if any, in leasing of channels;

c.

Economic feasibility and adequacy of the system's institutional cable and bi-directional cable;

d.

Present rate schedule;

e.

A report on improvements to the system;

f.

A copy of the annual report of the parent company.

(2)

Annual report. Within 90 days after the end of the franchisee's fiscal year, or as soon as available thereafter, the franchisee shall submit a report as provided in subsection (1)a. above.

(3)

Review. Within 30 days after the franchisee's report becomes available to the public, the county manager shall review the franchisee's performance to determine whether the franchisee has complied with the provisions, obligations, terms and conditions of this chapter and the franchise granted herein and may submit a report to the board setting forth specific findings and recommendations and the facts and reasons on which they are based.

(Code 1979, § 7-116; Ord. No. 98-45, § 18, 8-18-98)