[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Thornbury 10-15-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-11.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Thornbury Township
Communications Amplification System."
The Board of Supervisors finds that the ability of police, fire, ambulance
and other emergency 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
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 Thornbury
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:
Associates Public Safety Communications Officials International.
Chester County Department of Emergency Services.
Federal Communications Commission.
National Association of Business and Education Radio.
National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee.
Personal Communications Industry Association.
A.Â
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall erect,
construct, alter, refit, change the use of, or provide an addition of more
than 20% of the existing floor area to any building or structure or any part
thereof, or cause the same to be done, which fails to support adequate radio
coverage for CCDES, the Fire Department, and Police Department servicing Thornbury
Township. For the purpose of this chapter, adequate radio coverage shall include
all of the following:
(1)Â
A minimum signal strength of -95 dBm available in 90%
of the area of each floor of the building when transmitted from the closest
CCDES radio communications system site;
(2)Â
A minimum signal strength of -95 dBm received at the
closest CCDES radio communications site where transmitted from 90% of the
area of each floor of the building;
(3)Â
The frequency range, which must be supported, shall be
between 806.0125 MHz and 868.9875 MHZ.
[Amended 2-15-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-2]
(4)Â
A 90% reliability factor;
(5)Â
Signal strength measurements, for the purpose of measuring
the performance of a bidirectional amplifier, shall be based on one input
signal adequate to obtain a maximum continuous operation output level.
B.Â
The provisions of this chapter shall become applicable
upon notification to the property owner that unacceptable performance levels
exist. The property owner shall have 90 days from date of notification to
enhance radio coverage and bring it within the acceptable limits of these
provisions.
Buildings and structures which cannot support the required level of
radio coverage shall be equipped with either a radiating cable system or an
internal multiple antenna system with or without FCC type-accepted bidirectional
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 external power input. If used, bidirectional amplifiers
shall include filters to reduce adjacent frequency interference of 35 dB below
the NPSPAC band. Settings used should not attenuate the NPSPAC frequencies
and further provided that they are not more than one MHz from the NPSPAC frequencies.
A.Â
When an in-building radio system is required, and upon
completion of installation, it shall be the building owner's responsibility
to have the radio system tested to ensure that two-way coverage on each floor
of the building has a minimum of 90%. Each floor of the building shall be
divided into a grid of approximately 20 equal areas. A maximum of two nonadjacent
areas will be allowed to fail the test. In the event that three of the areas
fail the test, in order to be more statistically accurate, the floor may be
divided in 40 equal areas. In such event, a maximum of four nonadjacent areas
will be allowed to fail the test. After the forty-area test, if the system
continues to fail, the building owner shall have the system altered to meet
the 90% coverage requirement. The test shall be conducted using the most current
E.F. Johnson portable radio or its equivalent, available to the Police and/or
Fire Department servicing Thornbury Township, talking through the CCDES as
specified by the authority having jurisdiction. A spot located approximately
in the center of a grid area will be selected for the test, then the radio
will be keyed to verify two-way communications to and from the outside of
the building through the CCDES. Once the spot has been selected, prospecting
for a better spot within the grid area will not be permitted.
B.Â
The gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured and
the test measurement results shall be kept on file with the building owner
so that the measurements can be verified each year during the annual tests.
In the event that the measurement results became lost, the building owner
will be required to rerun the acceptance test to reestablish the gain value.
When an in-building radio system is required, the building owner shall
test all active components of the system, including but not limited to amplifiers,
power supplies and backup batteries, a minimum of once every 12 months. Amplifiers
shall be tested to ensure that the gain is the same as it was upon initial
installation and acceptance. Backup batteries and power supplies shall be
tested under load for a period of one hour to verify that they will properly
operate during an actual power outage. If, within the one-hour test period,
in the opinion of the testing technician, the battery exhibits symptoms of
failure, the test shall be extended for an additional one-hour period until
the testing technician confirms the integrity of the battery. All other active
components shall be checked to determine that they are operating within the
manufacturer's specifications for the intended purpose.
In addition to the annual test, the building owner shall perform a radio
coverage test a minimum of once every five years to insure that the radio
system continues to meet the requirements of the original acceptance test.
The procedure set forth above shall apply to such tests. A copy of accepted
tests shall be provided to the Chester County Emergency Services Engineering
Department.
All tests shall be conducted, documented and signed by a person in possession
of a current FCC technician license, or a current technician certification
issued by the APCO, NABER, or the PCIA. All test records shall be retained
on the inspected premises by the building owner and a copy submitted to officials
of the Fire Company and the Police Department servicing Thornbury Township.
Police 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 that the required level of radio coverage
is present.
This chapter shall 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 purposes of this chapter,
parking structures and stairwells 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 requirement of this chapter if the CCDES, Fire Department or Police Department servicing Thornbury Township determines that adequate radio coverage as defined in § 75-4, does 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 the notice to comply with this chapter, including but not limited to enhancing radio coverage and bringing it within the acceptable limits of this chapter.
