The Board of Supervisors finds that the ability of all emergency
services providers and personnel to communicate with each other within
buildings and structures, and to communicate from within structures
and buildings to personnel and locations outside the building and
structure, is of vital public importance. A breakdown in communications
among emergency service providers and personnel creates a serious
risk of harm to and is a serious threat to the safety and welfare
of emergency personnel, the citizens of East Bradford Township and
the public in general. Therefore, pursuant to the police power, the
Board enacts this chapter to protect the public health, safety and
welfare.
The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this
chapter and as used elsewhere in this Code, have the meanings shown
herein.
APCO
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International.
CCDES
Chester County Department of Emergency Services.
FCC
Federal Communications Commission.
NABER
National Association of Business and Education Radio.
NPSPAC
National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee.
PCIA
Personal Communications Industry Association.
WCPD
West Chester Police Department.
Buildings and structures which cannot support the required level
of acceptable radio coverage shall be equipped with either a radiating
cable system or an internal multiple-antenna system with or without
FCC-type accepted bidirectional 700/800 MHz amplifiers as needed.
If any part of the installed system or systems contains an electrically
powered component, the system shall be capable of operating on an
independent battery and/or generator system for a period of at least
12 hours without external power input. The battery system shall charge
in the presence of an external power input. If used, bidirectional
amplifiers shall include filters to reduce adjacent frequency interference
at 35dB below the public safety band. Settings used should not attenuate
the rebanded public safety frequencies, and further provided that
they are not more than one MHz from these frequencies.
The CCDES, WCPD and fire personnel, after providing reasonable
notice to the owner or his representative, shall have the right to
enter onto the property to conduct field testing to be certain the
required level of radio coverage is present.
This section does not apply to: structures in Use Groups R-3
and R-4; any building constructed of wood frame; or any building 35
feet high or less, as long as none of the aforementioned buildings
make use of any metal construction or any underground storage or parking
areas. For the purposes of this section, parking structures and stairwells
are included in the definition of "building," and stair shafts are
included in the definition of "all parts of a building," but elevators
may be excluded.
Any nonexempt building or structure existing, under construction, or for which a building permit application is pending or has been approved as of the effective date of this chapter shall comply with the requirements of this chapter if the CCDES, Township emergency service providers, and/or the WCPD determine that adequate radio coverage as set forth in §§
54-3 through and including 54-5 do not exist in the building or structure. The owner of the building or structure shall be notified in writing of the inadequacy of the coverage and shall have a period of 90 consecutive calendar days from the date of notice to comply with this chapter, including but not limited to enhancing radio coverage and bringing it within the acceptable limits of this section.