[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of River
Edge 4-21-1975 as Ord. No. 633. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 210.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide standards and regulations
for various types of intrusion, burglar, fire and other emergency alarm devices,
whether by direct line, radio, telephone or other means, actuating a device
at the police headquarters of the Borough of River Edge and requiring response
thereto by the Police Department, Fire Department or other municipal agencies.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person who operates, maintains or owns any alarm device or local alarm designed to summon the police, Fire Department or other municipal agencies to any location in response to any type of alarm signal. The terms of this chapter shall in no way prohibit alarm companies from providing service by private source to other offices within or without the Borough of River Edge, so long as such activity is not connected to the alarm console; except, however, that any person having a premises protected by an alarm device shall still be responsible for the registration thereof in accordance with § 108-6A without fee. This chapter shall not apply to volunteer fire or ambulance companies in the Borough of River Edge.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Defined as the console or control panel of devices giving a visual
or audio response, or both, and located within the confines of the Police
Department of the Borough of River Edge.
Any type of alarm system actuating equipment in the alarm console
providing warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or other peril.
Any alarm device or combination of devices installed for one (1)
or more buildings at a location other than the alarm console.
Limited to a member of the Police Department of the Borough of River
Edge.
That type of device using telephone lines transmitting an alarm directly
to an alarm company or other responsible party.
[Amended 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
Any alarm actuated by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act
of someone other than an intruder, and shall include as well alarms caused
by malfunctioning of the alarm device or other relevant equipment, but shall
not include alarms created by malfunction of the alarm console.
The person obtaining the license to maintain the alarm console as
hereinafter set forth.
Any alarm or device which, when actuated, produces a signal not connected
to an alarm company or receiving party such as store or home burglar alarms
actuating bell or siren devices.
[Amended 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
Any person owning an alarm device or a local alarm within the scope
of this chapter.
Includes any natural person, partnership, corporation or association.
A.
There should be a separate line for the direct-connection-type installation and a separate line for the retransmission-type installation. There are hereby established two (2) police alarm console licenses, one license for direct connection type alarms and one for retransmission type alarms. These licenses shall be awarded based on competitive bidding and based on the recommendation of the Borough Clerk as set forth in § 108-5 of this chapter. Any such licensee shall have exclusive use and control of the alarm console except for use by the Police Department of the Borough of River Edge, and such licensee will be responsible, at no cost to the Borough of River Edge, for the establishment, construction and installation of said console containing equipment, for either direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms, and being of a design approved by the Chief of Police and the Borough Clerk and for the care, maintenance and management thereafter of said console, for either direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms; said licensee shall locate said console, for either direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms, and relocate said console, for either direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms, if necessary, under the supervision of the Chief of Police at no cost to the Borough of River Edge. For any such license granted hereunder, the licensee will assume all liability and agree to indemnify and save harmless the Borough of River Edge, its agents and the River Edge Police Department for any acts in conjunction with the operation of said police alarm console, for both direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms, and in conjunction therewith he shall furnish annually to the Borough Clerk a noncancelable insurance certificate indicating liability coverage in an amount no less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.).
[Amended 7-21-1975 by Ord.
No. 645]
B.
Any connection to the police alarm console, for both
direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms, shall be of a type inspected
and approved by the Chief of Police of the Borough of River Edge or his designated
representative, and any person aggrieved by said decision may appeal said
decision, in writing, within ten (10) days to the Mayor and Council.
C.
All alarms existing as of the date of the adoption of
this chapter (except dial alarms) shall be connected hereunder to the alarm
console, for both direct-connection and retransmission-type alarms, by the
licensee, and no connection cost for such transfer shall be permitted.
D.
No fee shall be charged to the Borough of River Edge
or the Board of Education of the Borough of River Edge for monthly charges
or console connection charges, to either the direct-connection or retransmission-type
alarms, for any existing or future systems in public buildings, and any equipment
or alarm devices installed by the alarm console licensee in such public building
shall be at wholesale cost, exclusive of labor charges.
[Amended 7-21-1975 by Ord.
No. 645]
E.
The direct-connection licensee shall install initially
an annunciator or display console having no fewer than two hundred (200) zones
available for present systems and future connections, which console shall
be approved by the Underwriter Laboratories. The retransmission-type licensee
shall initially install for a maximum of six (6) per recorders.
F.
Except as provided in § 108-7 of this chapter, any license issued hereunder shall be for a term of five (5) years from the date of approval by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of River Edge; such licensee shall post with the Borough Clerk a performance bond in the amount of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.), noncancelable without notification to the Mayor and Council of the Borough of River Edge, guaranteeing performance for five (5) years of the obligation of the licensee and insuring maintenance of said console and alarm system during said period when such licensee is in force.
[Amended 9-2-1980 by Ord.
No. 771]
G.
Both the direct-connection licensee and the retransmission-type
licensee shall pay to the Borough of River Edge an annual license fee and
an annual rental and service as set forth in the Borough Fee Schedule, adopted
by resolution of the Borough Council, on file in the office of the Borough
Clerk. Said payment is to be made on the same day that the local property
taxes are due each quarter.
[Amended 9-2-1980 by Ord. No. 771[1]]
A.
The Borough Clerk or his designee is hereby authorized
to prepare specifications consistent with this chapter for the awarding of
both the direct-connection license and the retransmission-type license. Upon
receipt and review of these specifications, the Mayor and Council shall, by
resolution, designate the time and place for receiving sealed bids. In order
to be able to bid for the direct-connection license and retransmission-type
license, the prospective bidder shall disclose whatever information may be
required by the Borough Clerk concerning the ability of the proposed applicant
to comply with the requirements of this chapter.
[Amended 7-21-1975 by Ord.
No. 645]
B.
All bids shall indicate that the performance bond insurance
and other requirements of this chapter have been met and that the licensee
agrees to pay the license and gross rental and service fees prescribed by
this chapter. The bids shall also state the amount of the monthly maintenance
fee which the bidder intends to charge old and new customers and the amount
of initial installation charge to connect any new subscriber to the console
during the term of the contract. In addition thereto, the bidder shall calculate
the charge over the five-year life of this contract to the present customers
by multiplying the maintenance fee by sixty (60) and calculate the charge
to the new customers by multiplying the maintenance fee by sixty (60) and
adding thereto the initial installation cost for the new customers. The bidder
shall then add the five-year figure for the present customers and the five-year
figure for the new customers to obtain one (1) figure which shall be known
as the "composite bid figure." Upon the return of the bids, the Mayor and
Council shall award each of the said licenses to the bidder whose bid contains
the lowest comparative bid figure as determined by the preceding sentence,
and in conjunction therewith, the Mayor and Council reserves the right to
reject any and all bids. The same standards for awarding the licenses shall
be applied for the issuances of the licenses for both direct-connection and
retransmission-type licenses.
[Amended 7-21-1975 by Ord.
No. 645]
A.
Any person, firm or corporation which owns or operates
an alarm device or a local alarm shall make application for the continuance
thereof, in writing, to the Chief of Police, which application shall contain
at least the location of the device, the name of the installer of the device,
the name of the alarm company or receiving agent, the type of device, provisions
relating to false alarms and testing procedures, a list of persons to be contacted
in the event of an alarm and other information as may be required by the Police
Chief.
[Amended 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
B.
Local alarms shall be registered, but no fee shall be
charged therefor.
C.
For alarm devices, the permittee shall pay whatever charges
are required by any alarm company making such installation and, in addition
hereto, such connection and monthly maintenance charges are hereinabove provided
for to the licensee for the alarm control panel.
D.
Any permit granted hereunder shall be accepted upon the
express condition that the permittee shall indemnify and hold the Borough
of River Edge harmless from and on account of any and all damages arising
out of the activities of the permittee, its alarm contractor or the alarm
console licensee of the Borough of River Edge.
The Borough of River Edge shall be under no duty or obligation to any
permittee hereunder or to any alarm console licensee hereunder, the alarm
console and allied equipment being maintained at will and subject to termination
at any time by cancellation of the system by resolution duly adopted by the
Mayor and Council of the Borough of River Edge, and any individual permit
issued hereunder may be revoked at any time by the Mayor and Council upon
recommendation of the Police Chief, provided that thirty (30) days' notice
is given, in writing, to said permittee.
Dial alarm devices shall be permitted only under the following conditions:
A.
All owners of dial alarms shall register the same in the manner set forth in § 108-6B of this chapter.
B.
Equipment. No dial alarm devices shall be finally registered
until a test alarm has been made by the owner in conjunction with the Chief
of Police or his representatives.
C.
No dial alarm devices shall be permitted unless of a type approved by the Chief of Police in accordance with the rules promulgated under § 108-11 of this chapter. Any such equipment must have the approval of the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company or its successor.
D.
All dial alarm services shall be coded to dial an alarm
company receiving agent. No devices shall be coded to dial to the Police Department
directly.
[Amended 7-21-1975 by Ord.
No. 645; 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
E.
Any dial alarm device shall be coded as well to notify
a relative, neighbor or other third party who will be disclosed in the registration
of said equipment as required by this chapter.
F.
All dial alarm devices shall be capable of disconnect
to enable the owner to call the police switchboard to indicate that a false
alarm has occurred.
H.
Owners of dial alarm devices shall be governed by the false alarm procedures and penalties set forth in § 108-10D of this chapter.
I.
In the event that any person has a dial alarm device in existence at the time of the passage of this chapter, he shall have thirty (30) days in which to re-program the equipment to comply with the terms of this chapter and in which to pay the annual fee. Any person not so complying shall be liable to a penalty payable to the Borough of River Edge in the amount stated in § 108-12 of this chapter.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
J.
Any person having a dial alarm device which dials the general police number, upon discovery thereof, shall receive notice, in writing, from the Chief of Police requiring the owner to comply with the terms of this chapter, and if the owner fails to do so within thirty (30) days of the receipt of said notice, he shall then be liable to pay to the Borough of River Edge a penalty as stated in § 108-12 of this chapter.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
K.
The contents of any recorded message from a dial alarm
device must be intelligible and in a format approved by the Chief of Police;
no such message shall be transmitted more than three (3) times as a result
of a single stimulus of the mechanism; messages shall not exceed fifteen (15)
sections, and the time gap between delivery shall be approximately ten (10)
seconds.
L.
The sensory mechanism of such devices shall be adjusted
so as to suppress false indications and not to be actuated by impulses due
to pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind, noises,
rattling or vibration of doors or windows or other forces unrelated to general
alarms.
M.
All components of such equipment must be maintained by
the owner in good repair, and when evidence exists that there has been failure
to comply with the operational requirements of this chapter, the Chief of
Police is then authorized to demand that such device be disconnected until
such time as compliance with current requirements is re-established.
N.
All alarm systems shall be adjusted so that a system resets after
notifying the alarm company or receiving agent.
[Added 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172; 9-3-2002
by Ord. No. 1392]
Local alarms shall be registered in accordance with this chapter. In
addition thereto, those persons having local alarms shall be required to leave
with the Police Department the name of a person who can be reached in case
of malfunctioning of the equipment in order that the device can be temporarily
disconnected. All alarm mechanisms shall be adjusted so that the alarm signal
audible on the exterior of the alarm site will sound for no longer than 15
minutes after being activated.
A.
Dial alarm devices shall be permitted only in accordance
with this chapter.
[Amended 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
B.
All fire alarm devices shall be installed in accordance
with the requirements of this chapter.
[Amended 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
C.
Any licensee for the alarm console and any permittee
utilizing the services of any other alarm company connected to said console
shall provide for a representative to be on call at all times, and such service
shall be provided within eight (8) hours of notification by the Police Department
of any malfunctions of any equipment.
D.
Fees. Fees for false alarms shall be as set forth in
the Borough Fee Schedule, adopted by resolution of the Borough Council, on
file in the office of the Borough Clerk.
[Amended 11-3-1980 by Ord.
No. 774; 2-27-1994 by Ord. No. 1089; 12-16-1996
by Ord. No. 1172]
E.
Any unauthorized equipment may be disconnected by the
Chief of Police or his designated representative for noncompliance with this
chapter, and any person installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment shall
be prosecuted for violation of this chapter, and each and every day said equipment
is in operation shall be considered a separate violation. Any permittee shall
by acceptance of the permit be deemed as having consented to inspection of
the premises on which said alarm devices are installed at reasonable hours
by the Chief of Police or his designated representative.
The Chief of Police may from time to time promulgate rules and regulations
supplementing this chapter in order to provide for recordkeeping and efficient
management of said system; provided, however, that the Mayor and Council must
first approve said rules or any changes thereto.
[Added 9-20-2002 by Ord. No. 1392]
A.
For a first false alarm, a warning letter will be issued
to the permittee.
B.
For a second false alarm in a twelve-month period, the
permittee shall be assessed an administrative fee of $50 to be paid to the
Borough.
C.
For a third and any subsequent false alarms in a twelve-month
period, the permittee shall be assessed a fee of $100 to be paid to the Borough.
D.
If a false alarm should result in a malfunction of an
alarm system, and the permittee demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Police
Chief that problems with the system have been corrected and there have not
been any subsequent false alarms within any six-month period, then in that
event, any new false alarms shall be considered a first offense under this
section.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord.
No. 1172; 9-3-2002
by Ord. No. 1392]
For a violation of any provision of this chapter, a maximum penalty,
upon conviction thereof, shall be a fine not exceeding $1,000 or prison for
up to 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any
combination thereof.
