§ 7. Gulf States Utilities Company—Expires in 2033.

(a)

Be it ordained by the Police Jury of the Parish of St. Martin that under the terms and conditions herein set forth the franchise of the Gulf States Utilities Company is hereby renewed and Gulf States Utilities Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Texas, but authorized to do and doing business in the State of Louisiana, is hereby granted, for a period of sixty (60) years from July 1, 1973, the right, privilege and franchise to conduct within the Parish of St. Martin, State of Louisiana, an electrical light and power business under the jurisdiction of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and the right, privilege and franchise, for said period, to construct, reconstruct, replace and remove in, under, upon, over, above, across and along any and all the present and future public roads, highways, parks, streets, lanes and alleys and any other public areas of the Parish of St. Martin and over, under, above, along and across any and all streams, canals, bayous, embankments and bridges now or hereafter owned and controlled by it, a system of works, underground conduits, poles, pole lines, towers, distribution lines, transmission lines, wires, guys, cables, conduits, transformers and other distribution and transmission instrumentalities, facilities and appurtenances (including telephone and telegraph poles and wires for said company's own use), necessary or proper for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity into, in, within, from, across and through the Parish of St. Martin, and granting Gulf States Utilities Company the authority to use such for the purpose of generation, transmission, distribution, delivery and sale of electricity to the parish and to the inhabitants of the Parish of St. Martin, to be used by such purchaser or purchasers, for lighting, cooling, heating, power or any other purpose or purposes for which electricity may be used.

(b)

Be it further ordained by the Police Jury of the Parish of St. Martin that all work done in pursuance and exercise of this franchise shall be done in accordance with Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Electric Supply and Communication Lines, as established and published by the National Bureau of Standards; that grantee shall at all times maintain its electric lines in accordance with said Code or any such Code enacted to supplement said Code; that no work shall be done that will be contrary to or in conflict with the requirements of the State of Louisiana; and that the grantee shall protect and save harmless the grantor from any and all claims and damages arising from or growing out of the exercise of any of the rights or privileges granted by this franchise, this provision being for the sole benefit of the grantor and is not for the benefit of third parties.

(c)

Be it further ordained by the Police Jury of the Parish of St. Martin that none of the said structures listed in Section 1 [subsection (a)] of this [section] ordinance shall, at any time, interfere with the use, repair, maintenance, relocation, widening or drainage of said public roads, streets and alleys of the Parish (not within the limits of any incorporated city, town or village). In the event the police jury widens any existing right-of-way or acquires any new right-of-way for the use of the public and, in so doing, grantee's distribution poles or structures interfere with the construction of new roads on such rights-of-way, or the widening or improvement of the existing roads interfere with such poles or structures of grantee, then and in that event the removal or relocation of such poles or structures shall be done at the sole expense of grantee.

(d)

Be it further ordained by the Police Jury of the Parish of St. Martin that this ordinance shall be filed by the grantee with the Secretary of the Police Jury of the Parish of St. Martin, and it shall become effective and extend for a period of sixty (60) years from July 1, 1973; provided written acceptance thereof by grantee is timely received and filed with the Secretary of the Police Jury of St. Martin Parish, and provided further that the present franchise ordinance enacted on September 5, 1950, shall be repealed as of the effective date of this ordinance.

(e)

Be it further ordained by the Police Jury of the Parish of St. Martin that if any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be unconstitutional, void or invalid (or for any reason unenforceable), the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby, it being the intent of the Parish of St. Martin in adopting this ordinance that no portion thereof or provision or regulation contained herein shall become inoperative or fail by reason of any unconstitutionality or invalidity of any other portion, provision or regulation, and to this end, all provisions of this ordinance are declared to be severable.

(Ord. of 6-5-73)