§ 15-12 — Construction bond

§ 15-12 - Construction bond.

(a) A franchise agreement shall provide that, prior to any cable system construction, upgrade, rebuild or other work in the streets a franchisee shall establish in the city's favor a construction bond in an amount specified in the franchise agreement or other authorization as necessary to ensure the franchisee's faithful performance of the construction, upgrade, rebuild or other work. (b) In the event a franchisee subject to such a construction bond fails to complete the cable system construction, upgrade or other work in the streets in a safe, timely and competent manner in accord with the provisions of the franchise agreement, there shall be recoverable, jointly and severally from the principal and surety of the bond, any damages or loss suffered by the city as a result, including the full amount of any compensation, indemnification or cost of removal or abandonment of any property of the franchisee, or the cost of completing or repairing the system construction, upgrade or other work in the streets, plus a reasonable allowance for attorneys' fees, up to the full amount of the bond. The city may also recover against the bond any amount recoverable against the security fund pursuant to § 15-11 above where the amount exceeds that available under the security fund. (c) The franchise agreement may specify that upon completion of the system construction, upgrade, rebuild or other work in the streets and payment of all construction obligations of the cable system to the satisfaction of the city, the city may eliminate the bond or reduce its amount. However, the city may subsequently require an increase in the bond amount for any subsequent construction, upgrade, rebuild or other work in the streets. (d) The construction bond shall be issued by a surety having a minimum rating of A-1 in Best's Key Rating Guide, Property/Casualty Edition; shall be subject to the approval of the City Attorney; and shall provide that: "This bond may not be canceled, or allowed to lapse, until 30 days after receipt by the city, by certified mail, return receipt requested, of a written notice from the issuer of the bond of intent to cancel or not to renew." (e) The rights reserved by the city with respect to any construction bond established pursuant to this section are in addition to all other rights and remedies the city may have under this article, the franchise agreement, or at law or equity.

(Ord. 90-00, § 3, 9-11-2000)