<div class="chunk-title">Sec. 5-2. - Definitions.</div>
<div class="chunk-content">
            <p class="p0">
               For the purpose of this chapter, words used in this chapter shall have the meaning
               set forth in this section, unless otherwise required by the franchise agreement to
               be issued by this board of county commissioners or by the laws of the state or by
               applicable rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission. When not
               inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future
               tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, words in the singular
               number include the plural number and words in the masculine, feminine or neuter gender
               include each of the other genders. The words "shall" and "must" are always mandatory
               and not merely permissive or directory.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Access channels</span> means those channels which are required to be kept available by the franchisee for
               partial or total dedication to public access, educational access, or local government
               access.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Basic service</span> means tier I service which is that service provided for the basic subscriber fee
               and as set out in the franchise agreement. Basic service shall not be changed without
               prior approval of the board of commissioners.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Cable office</span> means the business office or collection office of the franchisee which shall be conveniently
               accessible to the public and located in the franchise area.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Cable television system</span> or <span class="ital">CATV system</span> means a facility that, in whole or in part, receives directly or indirectly over
               the air and amplifies or otherwise modifies the signals transmitting programs broadcast
               by one or more television stations, and distributes these signals by wire or cable
               to the subscribing members of the public who pay for the service. The term also means
               a system of antennas, cables, wires, lines towers, waveguides or other conductors,
               converters, equipment or facilities, designed and constructed for the purpose of originating,
               producing, receiving, reproducing, transmitting, amplifying and distributing voices,
               sound signals, pictures, visual images, digital signals, telemetry, or any other type
               of closed circuit transmission by means of electrical impulses, audio, video, or other
               forms of electronic or electrical signals located in the county, whether of electronic
               or electrical signals located in the county, or not directed to originating signals
               or receiving signals off the air. For the purpose of this chapter, cable television
               system or CATV system shall not mean or include the following:
               
               <p class="incr1">
                  (1)
                  </p>
               		
               <p class="content2">
                  Any system which serves fewer than ten subscribers;
                  </p>
               		
               
               <p class="incr1">
                  (2)
                  </p>
               		
               <p class="content2">
                  Any system which serves only residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common
                  ownership, control, or management and any commercial establishment located on the
                  premises of such apartment complex, and any hotel or motel or complex and any condominium
                  development, and which transmits only signals broadcast over the air by stations which
                  may be normally viewed or heard locally without objectionable interference, and which
                  does not provide any additional service over its facilities;
                  </p>
               		
               
               <p class="incr1">
                  (3)
                  </p>
               		
               <p class="content2">
                  Any system that serves only the residents or an overnight residential business establishment,
                  e.g., hotel, motel, etc., or any commercial establishment or private organization
                  or association that services only its own employees, members of the general public
                  upon its own premises, or its own members.
                  </p>
               		
               
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">CATV</span> means cable television.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">County</span> means the County of Currituck, a body politic, organized and existing under the laws
               of the state.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">County commissioners</span> and <span class="ital">county board</span> means the present governing body of the county that is designated the board of commissioners
               or any future board constituting the legislative and governing body of the county.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">County manager</span> means the county's chief administrative officer or any designee thereof as designated
               and appointed by the board of county commissioners.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Extension costs</span> means one-time pro rata energizing charges and cable costs inclusive of direct and
               indirect overhead so as to reflect the equivalent actual cost of equipment, wire and
               installation labor above and beyond the cost of a normal drop.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">FCC</span> means the Federal Communications Commission or other regulatory agency of the United
               States having regulatory jurisdiction over cable television.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">FCC regulations</span> means the present and future valid rules and regulations promulgated by the Federal
               Communications Commission and applicable at any time to the cable television system
               in the county.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Franchise</span> and <span class="ital">franchise agreement</span> mean the authorization granted pursuant to the terms of this chapter to construct,
               operate and maintain a cable television system within all of or a specified area within
               the county. The franchise shall be granted in the form of a franchise agreement, and
               together with this chapter shall contain the terms and conditions upon which a cable
               television system may be operated in the county.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Franchise area</span> means the geographical territory specified and described in each franchise.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Franchise authority</span> includes the authority and permission to engage in the business of operating and
               providing a cable television system in the county and, for that purpose, to erect,
               install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, and maintain on, over, under, upon,
               across and along any public street, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes,
               amplifiers, appliances, attachments and other apparatus as may be necessary to the
               cable television system using, however, existing poles for such purposes where possible
               and, in addition, to use similar facilities or properties rented or leased from a
               public utility or otherwise franchised or permitted to do business in the county,
               sent from the state department of transportation for the use of rights-of-way of public
               roads and highways and of public utilities for use of poles or other facilities. Where
               the use of poles and underground conduit facilities owned by the locally franchised
               power company, its successors and assigns, is not practicable, or a mutually satisfactory
               rental agreement cannot be entered into with such companies, the franchisee shall
               have the right to erect and maintain its own poles and underground conduit facilities
               as may be necessary for the proper construction and maintenance of the television
               distribution system, with the approval of locating poles and underground conduit facilities
               to be first given by the board of commissioners.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Franchisee</span> means and includes all persons, firms and corporations having any rights, powers,
               privileges, duties, liabilities or obligations pursuant to this chapter and the franchise
               agreements issued pursuant to this chapter and also all persons having or claiming
               any right or title or interest in or all persons having or claiming any right or title
               or interest in or to any CATV system operated in the county, whether by reason of
               the franchise itself or any subcontract, transfer, assignment, mortgage, pledge, hypothecation,
               security agreement, management agreement or operating agreement or otherwise arising
               or created.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Gross subscriber revenue</span> means any and all monetary or barter receipts or compensation or other consideration
               received directly or indirectly from all subscribers, users, customers and other sources
               in payment of or arising from the sale or furnishing of subscriber services in any
               area of the county authorized by the franchise including but not limited to the initial
               lump sum payment; hookup fees; installation fees; service and repair charges; disconnect
               and reconnect fees; basic monthly cable fees; pay TV revenues; fees for regular cable
               benefits including the transmission of broadcasting signals and access and origination
               channels, if any; fees for the transmission of FM radio signals revenues derived from
               per program or per channel charges; leased channel revenues; advertising revenues;
               and all other income and revenue derived from the franchisee's subscriber services.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Headend</span> means that physical and electronics facility which receives and conditions the electronic
               signals utilized by subscribers.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Homes per mile</span> means the total number of residential units located on the property directly adjacent
               to two consecutive miles of street or other public rights-of-way, as measured along
               established streets or rights-of-way contiguous with the present system of streets
               and rights-of-way as measured from each side of the initial line location as shown
               on the plat attached to the franchise agreement. The total residential units thus
               obtained shall be divided by two to obtain the homes per mile.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Normal drop</span> means the conductor which provides subscriber interconnection to an existing or required
               cable television system feeder leg with a cable length not to exceed 200 feet, including
               the cable length required within the subscriber's premises as measured from the nearest
               street or road right-of-way line. The term "normal drop" as used in this chapter means
               a cable and appurtenances of such construction, installations and system interconnection
               as provides signal levels of the quality and strength consistent with the technical
               quality and strength consistent with the technical quality requirement of the FCC
               rules. It may be overhead or underground. Drops in excess of the normal length shall
               be in accordance with the provisions of the line extension policy in this chapter.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Pay TV</span> means an arrangement under which a charge is made to a subscriber for receiving a
               particular television program or series of programs which are not a part of tier I
               basic service.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Person</span> shall mean any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization
               of any kind.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Property of franchisee</span> means all property owned, installed or used within the county by a franchisee in
               the conduct of a cable television system business under the authority of a franchise
               granted pursuant to this chapter.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Street, road</span> and <span class="ital">highway</span> mean the surface of and the space above and below any publicly or privately owned
               or maintained property or any public street, right-of-way, highway, freeway, bridge,
               lane, path, alley, court, sidewalk, cartway, or drive, existing as such within the
               franchise area.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Subscriber</span> and <span class="ital">user</span> mean a person or organization whose premises are physically wired to receive any
               transmission from the system and who lawfully receives for any purpose the CATV service
               of the franchise.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Subscriber service drop</span> means the extension wiring from the franchisee's distribution lines to a subscriber's
               building.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Two-way capacity</span> means that such system shall maintain a plant having technical capacity for audio
               and video return communications.
               </p>
            <p class="historynote0">
               (Ord. of 4-2-84, art. II, Â§Â§ 2â€”28)
               </p>
            <p class="refcross0" block_type="hang"><b>Cross referenceâ€” </b>
               Definitions and rules of construction generally, <a href="" data-chunk-id="COOR_CH1GEPR_S1-2DERUCO" class="section-link" data-product-id="12419">Â§ 1-2</a>.
               </p></div>