[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Greenwich 8-4-2008 by Ord. No. 12-2008. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
The Greenwich Township Council 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 structures, 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
Greenwich Township and the public in general. Therefore, pursuant
to the police power, the Greenwich Township Council enacts this chapter
to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
This chapter of the Code of the Township of
Greenwich shall be entitled "Communications Amplification Systems."
The following words and terms shall, for the
purposes of this chapter and as used elsewhere in this code, have
the meanings shown herein.
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APCO — Association of Public Safety Communications
Officers International
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CAS — Communication Amplification System
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FCC — Federal Communications Commission
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GCEMS — Gloucester County Emergency Medical
Services
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GCER — Gloucester County Emergency Response
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NABER — National Association of Business
and Education Radio
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NPSPAC — National Public Safety Planning
Advisory Committee (frequencies designed for national radio interoperability)
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PCIA — Personal Communications Industry
Association
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A.
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
of any part thereof, or cause the same to be done, which fails to
support adequate radio coverage for GCER, GCEMS and the Greenwich
Township Police, Fire and Ambulance Departments. For the purposes
of this chapter, "adequate radio coverage" shall include all of the
following:
(1)
A minimum signal strength of 100 dBm available in
90% of the area of each floor of the building when transmitted from
the closest GCER radio communications system site;
(2)
A minimum signal strength of 100 dBm received at the
closest GCER radio communications site when transmitted from 90% of
the area of each floor of the building;
(3)
As the CAS is part of the public safety radio system,
the owner must adapt according to any growth changes or modifications
as instructed by local authorities;
(4)
The frequency range which must be supported shall
be compatible to the current public safety radio system in use by
the Township of Greenwich;
(5)
A 90% reliability factor;
(6)
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 operating output
level.
B.
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 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 36 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.
When an in-building radio system is required, and
upon completion of installation, it will be the building owner's responsibility
to have the radio system tested to ensure that two-way coverage on
each floor of the building is 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 owners shall have the system altered
to meet the 90% coverage requirement. The test shall be conducted
using the most current Motorola portable radio or its equivalent talking
through the GCER 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
GCER. Once the spot has been selected, prospecting for a better spot
within the grid area will not be permitted.
B.
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 become lost,
the building owner will be required to rerun the acceptance test to
reestablish the gain values.
C.
Tests shall be made using the following guidelines:
(1)
With a service monitor or signal meter using a unity
gain antenna on a small ground plane;
(2)
Measurements shall be made with the antenna held in
a vertical position at three feet to four feet above the floor;
(3)
A calibrated service monitor or signal meter (with
a factory calibration dated within 24 months) may be used to do the
test;
(4)
The GCER representative may also make simultaneous
measurements to verify that the equipment is making accurate measurements.
A variance of 3 dB between the instruments will be allowed; and
(5)
If measurements in one location are varying, then
average measurements shall be used.
D.
Tests shall be made using the designated frequencies
used by emergency response personnel. All tests shall be made in concert
with GCER. If interference problems are noted, it is the owners responsibility
to insure action is taken to reduce them.
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
additional one-hour periods until the testing technician confirms
the integrity of the battery. All other active components shall be
checked to determine that they are operating with 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 GCER.
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 APCO, NABER, or the
PCIA. All test records shall be retained on the inspected premises
by the building owner and a copy submitted to municipal officials.
All tests will be performed in conjunction with GCER.
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;
and 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 "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, 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 GECER, Greenwich Township Fire
Department and/or Police Department determines that adequate radio
coverage as defined 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.
