5.19.350 Penalties - Civil and criminal.
a. Subject to the procedural provisions of VMC 5.19.370, franchises granted pursuant to this ordinance shall provide for the following minimum penalties chargeable to a grantee as liquidated damages to the letter of credit or other performance guarantee established by the franchise agreement:
1. For failure to extend cable service within the franchise area as required: two-hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day per affected potential subscriber.
2. For failure to provide any capability for public, educational, and governmental use of the system as required by a franchise agreement: five-hundred dollars ($500) for each violation per day.
3. For violation of applicable customer service standards: twenty-five dollars ($25) per violation per day multiplied by the number of affected subscribers, which after recovery of costs and fees, shall be used by the city to provide refunds to such subscribers.
4. For failure to upgrade a cable system as provided for by a franchise agreement: one-thousand dollars ($1000) per day.
5. For all other material violations of the franchise agreement other than those specified in this section, for which actual damages may not be ascertainable: two-hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day for provision of the franchise agreement which is violated.
b. The date of violation will be the date of the event and not the date the grantee receives notice of the violation, provided, if city has actual knowledge of the violation and fails to give the grantee the notice called for herein, then the date of the violation shall be no earlier than ten (10) business days before the city gives the grantee the notice of the violation. The city must provide written notice of a violation. Upon receipt of notice, the grantee will have a period of thirty (30) days to cure the violation or thirty (30) days to present to the city a reasonable remedial plan. The city shall decide whether to accept or reject the remedial plan presented by the grantee. Liquidated damages occur only in the event that either a cure has not occurred within thirty (30) days or the city rejects the plan. The procedures provided in VMC 5.19.370 shall be utilized to impose any liquidated damages.
c. The imposition and collection of such penalties shall in no respect affect:
1. Compensation owed to subscribers; or
2. A grantee’s obligation to comply with all provisions of this ordinance or of a franchise agreement; or
3. Other remedies available to the city.
d. It shall be a gross misdemeanor for any person to intentionally or knowingly construct, operate or maintain a cable system or provide cable service over a cable system within the city without a franchise granted by the city authorizing such activity.
e. In addition to or as an alternative to any other remedy, the city may seek such legal or equitable relief as is appropriate to obtain compliance with VMC 5.19.030. (Ord. M-3371, 1998)