Town of Wells, ME Article V Alarm Systems

§ 150-45 Purpose.

The purpose of this article is to establish appropriate guidelines for the installation of alarm systems for notification of the Town of Wells Public Safety Complex.

§ 150-46 Notification permit.

A. No person shall operate or maintain an alarm system which automatically transmits a signal, message or warning to the Police or Fire Department without first obtaining a notification permit.

B. Application forms for notification permits to install, maintain or operate an alarm system shall be obtained from the Town Clerk and filed with the Wells Public Safety Dispatch Center. Installation or monitoring will not be permitted until the application has been filed with the Wells Public Safety Dispatch Center. Said application shall set forth the name, address and telephone number of both the installer of the system and the person or business on whose premises the system will be installed, as well as a description of the system and the location where it is proposed to be installed. The application shall also state the alarm answering service and its phone number. Installers are responsible for submission of said application.

[Amended 11-7-2000]

C. The Chiefs of the Police and Fire Departments which the alarm signals shall approve such application if he/they find(s) that the person installing the system maintains an adequate service organization to repair, maintain or otherwise service alarm systems sold or leased by him. Any leased monitoring company shall be UL listed and meet N.F.P.A. Code 72 National Fire Alarm Code (1993 Edition) standards.

[Amended 11-7-2000]

D. The Police Chief or Fire Chief may impose other reasonable conditions on the exercise of said permits. The Town Manager shall retain final authority to approve the reasonableness of any other conditions.

E. The Chief of the concerned department shall have the sole right to inspect or cause to be inspected by the system installer any alarm system on the premises where it is intended to function prior to issuance of any permit for operation of such a system, and he may inspect or cause an inspection by the system installer or by an individual qualified in installation of such an alarm system to be made at any time after the issuance of a permit to determine whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of the permit and the provisions of this article. Information related to any alarm system shall be maintained in a confidential manner, and the release of such information by any member of either department or any Town employee shall be a violation of this article.

F. No person shall install, operate or maintain a telephonic alarm system which automatically transmits a signal, message or warning to the Town's Police or Fire Department telephone lines, except to such telephone number or numbers as designated by the permit issued under the provisions of this article.

G. The Chief of the concerned department may revoke any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this article, after giving written notice to the permit holder and an opportunity for the permit holder to be heard, if he determines that the alarm system installed pursuant to said permit has been installed, maintained or operated in violation of the provisions of this article or of any term or condition of said permit or for failure to pay any fee specified in Table 1.

§ 150-47 Transmittal of non-emergency alarms.

Any permit holder whose system causes transmittal of a non-emergency alarm more than three times per year shall pay a fee of $50 in the case of the Police Department or, in the case of the Fire Department, $200 for each instance. Non-emergency alarms shall include, but shall not be limited to, malfunctioning equipment or improperly monitored equipment that causes false alarms.

§ 150-48 Violations and penalties.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of this article or any conditions imposed by the permit shall, upon conviction therefor, be punished by a civil penalty of not more than $200.