Town of Sterling, MA Chapter 12 Alarms

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Sterling 1-26-1987 STM by Art. 8, approved 4-13-1987; amended 2-27-1989 STM by Art. 14, approved 3-16-1989; 5-14-2007 ATM by Art. 47, approved with caution 9-5-2007; readopted 5-14-2012 ATM by Art. 19, approved 10-11-2012. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 12-1 Purpose.

The purpose of this bylaw is to protect the public safety and well being by ensuring that alarm systems installed in the Town of Sterling are designed, installed and maintained to achieve the following:

A. Maximum protection for life and property.

B. Conformity of system design with local, state and national standards and Sterling Police and Fire Departments standard operating guidelines.

C. Reduction of needless and/or false alarms.

D. High reliability.

E. Ease of operation and understanding.

§ 12-2 Enforcement and appeal.

The terms of this bylaw shall be enforced by the Sterling Police Chief or Fire Chief or his/her designee. Appeals from the Chief's determinations shall be made to the Sterling Select Board within 30 days from their receipt by the appellant. All necessary records will be maintained by the Sterling Fire Department.

§ 12-3 Payment of fees and penalties; changing of fees.

A. All fees and penalties prescribed by this bylaw shall be paid to the Town of Sterling through the Town Collector and shall inure to the use of the Town. All bills will be sent to the Sterling Fire Department.

B. The Fire or Police Chief is authorized to set and/or to change any fees prescribed by this bylaw from time to time, with the prior approval from the Select Board.

§ 12-4 Alarms using dispatch center or police and fire emergency number; penalty.

A. Alarms which automatically dial the dispatcher-answered telephones in the Sterling Dispatch Center and deliver a recorded message must use the telephone number(s) provided by the Chief of Police or Fire Chief.

B. Any such alarm which uses either the Police Department or Fire Department emergency number will incur a penalty of $100 for the second and each subsequent offense.

§ 12-5 Municipal alarm system.

A. Systems shall be configured to ensure that the maximum amount of information available is transmitted to the dispatch office, including but not limited to point, device, zone, supervisory, trouble or other specific information for identifying the origin, location and/or type of alarm signals. Zone configurations are to be approved by the Fire Chief or his/her designee. All radio master box installations shall be approved by the Fire Department and installed to ensure reliable and consistent operation.

B. Any premises connected to the municipal alarm system shall be required to have a Knox Box installed and provided by the owner of the premises. The Fire Chief or his/her designee shall approve of the location of the Knox Box prior to installation.

C. All new installations and all upgrade installations shall be designed to meet the provisions of these requirements. Installers shall be required to submit a municipal alarm connection permit application prior to the installation of any equipment. The Fire Chief or his/her designee must sign off on the design and application prior to the installation of any equipment. The Police Chief will be notified of any occupancy that is setup to monitor security signals through the municipal alarm system. All new installations shall be fully tested in the presence of the appropriate Code Official for acceptance and approved before the system is placed in service. In the case of new construction, no premises shall be allowed occupancy without this approval.

D. It shall be the option of the owner of a premises connected to the municipal alarm system as to whether or not the security system is monitored through the radio master box or central station.

E. There shall be an annual fee of not less than $300 charged to the owner of an alarm system monitored by the municipal signaling system. A fee of $100 annually shall be charged for a premises requiring street or call-box access only. The term of service will run from July 1 to June 30. Failure to pay the fee will initiate civil court action. Annual fees shall be submitted to the Fire Department before June 30.

F. The owner shall be required to provide an updated list of contact information and responsible party information to the Fire Department at the time payment is made.

G. Should an alarm system connection be made to the system between January 1 and June 30 of a given term, the subscriber will be responsible for paying a fee of $175 for the partial term of service. This fee is to be paid prior to final inspection of the installation.

H. Any alarm system in its entirety shall be properly maintained in good working order by the system owner.

I. The Fire Department shall be informed of the test prior to its performance. Written documentation as to test results shall be kept on file on the premises and forwarded to the Fire Department.

§ 12-6 Penalty for false alarms.

A. The owner of any alarm, whether directly connected to the dispatch center, automatically dialed with a recorded message to the dispatch center, phoned in by an answering service or by any other person or otherwise causes a physical response by either the Sterling Police Department or the Sterling Fire Department will incur a penalty of $25 for the third and each subsequent false alarm during any given calendar year.

B. The determination as to whether an alarm was false or not will be made by the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief, after consultation with the responder(s) and the Fire Chief or Chief of Police if necessary.