Agenda - Council - 05/27/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-216- Facilities, shall not operate to deprive Company of its rights to operate and maintain such Gas Facilities, until the reasonable cost of relocating the same and the loss and expense resulting from such relocation are first paid to Company. In no case, however, shall City be liable to the Company for failure to specifically preserve a fight-of-way, under Minnesota Statutes. SECTION 8. CHANGE IN FORM OF GOVERNMENT. Any change in the form of government of the City shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance. Any governmental unit succeeding the City shall, without the consent of Company, succeed to all of the rights and obligations of the City provided in this Ordinance. SECTION 9. FRANCHISE FEE. 9.1 Separate Ordinance. In lieu of any permit or other fees being imposed on the Company, the City may impose on the Company a franchise fee of not more than five percent of the Company's gross revenues as hereinafter defined. The initial franchise fee shall be imposed by a separate ordinance duly adopted by the City Council, which ordinance shall not be adopted until written notice enclosing such proposed ordinance has been served upon the Company by certified mail. The fee shall not become effective until after written notice enclosing such adopted ordinance has been served upon the Company by certified mail. '9.2 Terms Defined. The term "gross revenues" means all sums, excluding any surcharge or similar addition to the Company's charges to customers for the purpose of reimbursing the Company for the cost resulting from the franchise fee, received by the Company from the sale of natural gas to its retail customers within the corporate limits of the City. 9.3 Collection of the Fee. The franchise fee shall be payable not less often than monthly, and shall be based on the gross revenues of the Company during complete billing months during the period for which payment is to be made. The percent fee may be changed from time to time; however, each change shall meet the same notice requirements and the percentage may not be changed more often than annually. Such fee shall not exceed any amount which the Company may legally charge to its customers prior to payment to the City by imposing a surcharge equivalent to such fee in rates for its gas service. The Company may pay the City the fee based upon the surcharge billed subject to subsequent reductions to account for uncollectibles or customer refunds. The time and manner of collecting the franchise fee is subject to the mutual agreement of the City and the Utilities Board of Directors or Commission, which the Company agrees to use best efforts to obtain. The Company agrees to make its gross revenues records available for inspection by the City at reasonable times. I I I I i ! I I I I I I I I I I ! I I