§ 42-81. Nontransferable.

(a)

No municipal consent or any rights or privileges that a provider has under a municipal consent, or the facilities held by a provider for use under such municipal consent which are in the public rights-of-way, shall be sold, resold, assigned, transferred or conveyed by the provider, either separately or collectively, to any other person, without the prior written approval of the city by ordinance or resolution. The city's approval shall be based upon the transferee providing adequate information to the city that it has the ability to perform and comply with the obligations and requirements of the municipal consent. Such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. Should a provider sell, assign, transfer, convey or otherwise dispose of any of its rights or interests under its municipal consent, including such provider's telecommunications network, or attempt to do so, without the city's prior consent, the city may revoke the provider's municipal consent for default, in which event all rights and interest of the provider under the municipal consent shall cease.

(b)

Any transfer in violation of this section shall be null and void and unenforceable. Any change of control of a provider shall constitute a transfer under this section. However, such a change in control shall not void the municipal consent as to the transferee, unless and until the city has given notice that such a change in control necessitates compliance with this section. If the provider does not initiate compliance with this section by a request for municipal consent within 30 days after the required notice has been given by the city, the municipal consent shall be null and unenforceable as to the transferee.

(c)

There shall be a rebuttable presumption of a change of control of a provider upon a change of 15 percent or greater in the ownership of such provider. Such a change in control shall be deemed a transfer which requires consent of the city.

(d)

A mortgage or other pledge of assets to a bank or lending institution in a bona fide lending transaction shall not be considered an assignment or transfer.

(e)

Every municipal consent granted under this section shall specify that any transfer or other disposition of rights which has the effect of circumventing payment of required access line fees or minimum fees and/or evasion of payment of such fees by failure to accurately count or report the number of access lines by a provider is prohibited.

(f)

Notwithstanding anything else in this section, if the city has not approved or denied a request to transfer under this section within 120 days of written notice of such request from the provider to the city, it shall be deemed approved. Such time frame may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties.

(g)

Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, a provider may transfer, without city approval, the facilities in the public rights-of-way under a municipal consent to another provider who has a municipal consent under this article. The provider transferring the facilities remains subject to all applicable obligations and provisions of the municipal consent unless the provider to which the facilities are transferred is also subject to the same, as applicable, obligations and provisions. The provider transferring the facilities must give written notice of the transfer to the city manager.

(Code 1982, § 25.5-39; Ord. No. 99-47, § 14, 8-30-1999; Ord. No. 99-39, § 14, 9-7-1999)