As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACTIVATED ALARM REPORT
A document prepared by the Town Police Department or by one of the various fire departments which summarizes the following available information: the date and time of an alarm signal, the name of the owner or lessee of property from which the alarm signal emanated, the street address, the alarm company servicing the alarm, and the cause of the signal's activation, including whether or not it was a false alarm.
ALARM AGENT
Any person employed by an alarm company and whose duties include any of the following: staffing a central alarm station, selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing or installing, in or on any building, place or premises, any fire or police alarm system within the Town.
ALARM COMPANY
Any business, firm or corporation or other commercial entity conducting the business of owning, selling, leasing, installing, operating, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering or replacing a fire or police alarm device or system of devices as defined herein.
ALARM INSTALLATION
Any fire or police alarm device or aggregation of fire or police alarm devices installed on or within a single building or on or within more than one building or area located on a common site and comprising an alarm system as the same is defined herein.
CENTRAL ALARM STATION
Any facility, which facility is staffed by operators who receive, record and/or validate alarm signals and relay information about such validated signals to the Town Police Department and/or fire departments when appropriate.
FALSE ALARM
Any signal, activated by a fire or police alarm system to which the Town Police Department and/or a fire department responds, which is not the result of a fire or criminal act.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The agency which is responsible for protecting a certain geographic area of the Town in the event of fire. The following fire districts have fire department functions in the Town of East Hampton: Amagansett, East Hampton, Springs, Montauk, Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton.
FIRE OR POLICE ALARM DEVICE
Any device which, when activated, produces an audible or visual signal designed to notify persons within audible or visible alarm range of the signal. This shall include all components, including but not limited to smoke/heat detectors, manual fire alarm boxes, water flow switches, panel boxes, circuits, wiring and strobe lights.
FIRE OR POLICE ALARM SYSTEM
Any system or portion of a system consisting of components and circuits arranged to monitor the status of fire and/or police alarms which, when activated, transmits a signal to an alarm monitoring station located off the premises which the alarm system monitors.
HEARING OFFICER
A representative of the Town of East Hampton who conducts hearings on the validity of false alarm charges. The hearing officer for a false fire alarm shall be a Town Fire Marshal, and the hearing officer for a false police alarm shall be a member of the Police Department.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Any law enforcement agency, including local Police Departments, and any other agencies operating on official business, which responds to signals from fire or police alarm systems.
A. 
General. Any property owner or lessee of property in the Town having on its premises a fire and/or police alarm system shall, within 30 days of the installation of the system or the current owner's acquisition of premises having such system, obtain a registration form from the Town Clerk, complete said form, and submit it to the Town Clerk, thereby notifying the Town about such system's existence on the premises. The Town Clerk, in turn, will share the information of such registration forms with the Town Police Department and the various fire departments. Said registration requirement shall apply to all fire and police alarm systems, including without limitation a system installed by the property owner or lessee of the property and a system installed by an alarm company on behalf of the property owner or lessee of the property.
B. 
Contents of the registration form. The following information shall be provided by a property owner and the lessee of property which has on its premises a fire and/or police alarm system:
(1) 
Type(s) of alarm system(s) as located on the premises.
(2) 
Physical address of the premises, including the house number.
(3) 
Name of the property owner or lessee of property.
(4) 
Owner's and lessee's telephone numbers (local, cell and out-of-town).
(5) 
Owner's and lessee's addresses (local and out-of-town).
(6) 
Name and telephone number of a local friend, caretaker or watchman to contact if property owner/lessee cannot be contacted. Such person shall have the capability to shut off audible alarm systems, reset alarm systems and secure the premises. In the case of fire, such person shall have the capability of opening up such premises for inspection by the Fire Department.
(7) 
Name, address and telephone numbers of the alarm company which installed or modified the alarm system.
(8) 
Name, address and telephone numbers of the alarm company which services the alarm system.
(9) 
Location of switch to silence an audible alarm system's bell or whistle.
(10) 
Name of the fire department providing service to the specified address.
C. 
Existing alarms. A registration form for a fire and/or police alarm system(s) existing on a premises on the effective date of this local law shall be submitted by a property owner or lessee of property to the Town Clerk within 30 days of the effective date of this local law.
D. 
New alarms. After the effective date of this local law, a property owner or lessee of property who has a new fire and/or police alarm system installed on its premises shall submit a completed registration form to the Town Clerk within 30 days after said installation.
E. 
Modifications to alarms. After the effective date of this local law, a property owner or lessee of property who has a fire and/or police alarm system modified on its premises shall submit a completed registration form to the Town Clerk within 30 days after said modification.
F. 
Annual registration not required. A registration form need not be submitted on an annual basis, but shall be submitted each time an alarm system is installed or modified.
G. 
No fee. No fee shall be charged by the Town Clerk for such registration.
H. 
Violation. Failure to submit a completed registration form shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
A. 
State license. No alarm company shall conduct business in the Town unless it holds a current, valid license issued by the State of New York pursuant to Article 6-D of the General Business Law.
B. 
Registration. All alarm companies who conduct or propose to conduct business in the Town shall submit a completed registration form to the Town Clerk prior to conducting said business and shall reregister on an annual basis each January thereafter. In connection with such registration, all alarm companies shall supply the following information:
(1) 
A true copy of the license issued by the State of New York pursuant to Article 6-D of the General Business Law.
(2) 
The names and addresses of all employees of the alarm company who will be acting as alarm agents and visiting property owners on behalf of said alarm company in the Town.
C. 
No fee. No fee shall be charged by the Town Clerk for such registration.
D. 
Failure to submit a completed registration form shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
All alarm systems shall be inspected as required under NFPA 72 and manufacturer's guideline by an alarm servicing company and any necessary maintenance and repairs made.
Every alarm company shall maintain complete and accurate records of all installations and modifications of alarm systems in the Town and shall provide a copy of such records, when requested, to the Town Clerk. Failure to provide a copy of such records shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
The personnel of any central alarm station who calls the Police Department or fire department to report an active alarm shall identify himself, state the name of the alarm company for which he works, and provide accurate directions to the protected premises at which the alarm is sounding. The alarm agent shall further provide the name and telephone number of a caretaker who is responsible for resetting an activated alarm if the property owner or lessee of the property is away. In the event the caretaker is unavailable, the alarm company shall be responsible for resetting an activated alarm.
A. 
Procedure. The Town Police Department and the various fire departments shall provide the Town Clerk with activated alarm reports which state that false alarms have occurred. The Town Clerk shall prepare a quarterly billing statement summarizing any false alarms occurring at a property and the charges pertaining thereto pursuant to the schedule of charges set forth in Subsection B below. The Town Clerk shall send such statement to the property owner and/or lessee of property. The Town Clerk may also utilize the services of a collection agency to recover outstanding, unpaid charges.
[Amended 4-19-2018 by L.L. No. 3-2018]
B. 
Charges.
(1) 
Any owner or lessee of property having a fire or police alarm system on his or its premises shall pay to the Town a charge for each and every false alarm to which the Town Police Department or one of the various fire departments responds in each calendar year as follows:
(a) 
First false alarm: no charge, provided malfunctions, if any, which have been reported by the responding department to the homeowner have been repaired.
(b) 
Second false alarm: $400.
(c) 
Third false alarm: $500.
(d) 
Fourth false alarm: $750.
(e) 
Fifth and subsequent false alarms: $1,000.
(2) 
The above charges shall be paid to the Town Clerk. The owner or lessee shall have 30 days from the mailing date of the billing statement from the Town Clerk to either pay the charges or file a written request for appeal with the Town Clerk. Failure by a property owner or a lessee of property to pay any such charges within 30 days after the mailing date of the billing statement from the Town Clerk or final determination of the hearing officer or notice from a collection agency shall constitute a violation of this chapter. Billing statements and written decisions shall be mailed to the current address of the property owner as listed with the Town Assessor.
(3) 
Any owner or lessee who has a false alarm occur on his or her property may appeal such determination to the hearing officer by filing a written request with the Town Clerk setting forth the basis for such appeal. A hearing shall be held by the hearing officer within a reasonable time after the Town's receipt of the written appeal. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final. The owner or lessee shall have 30 days to comply with the final determination of the hearing officer.
(4) 
The adoption of this local law shall not negate the responsibility of any owner or lessee of property having a fire or police alarm system on his or its property of paying any false alarm charges due and owing to the Town at the time of its adoption.
(5) 
In the event that any false alarm charges shall remain unpaid 90 days after either notification to the property owner of such charges has been sent and such charges have not been appealed or a determination on appeal has been made upholding some or all of such charges and such charges remain unpaid, then, in such an event, the Town Clerk shall certify the amount of such unpaid alarm charges to the Tax Receiver, who shall examine the certificate and, if found to be correct, shall cause the amounts due to be charged against the real property for which such charges are due. The amount so charged shall constitute a lien on the property and shall remain in full force and effect for the amount due in principal and interest, plus costs of court, if any, for collection, until final payment has been made. Said costs and expenses shall be collected in the manner fixed by law for the collection of taxes and shall be subject to a delinquent penalty at the same rate and upon the same terms as provided by law for the nonpayment of real property taxes. The certification of the Town Clerk in accordance with the provisions hereof shall be prima facie evidence that all legal formalities have been done properly and satisfactorily and shall be full notice to every person concerned that the amount of the statement, plus interest, constitutes a charge against the property designated or described in the statement, plus interest, and that the same is due and collectible as provided.
[Added 7-1-2010 by L.L. No. 7-2010]
C. 
Payment to fire district. On a quarterly basis, each fire district shall receive from the Town a payment equal to 70% of the false alarm charges collected by the Town in the prior quarter for false fire alarms in that district's jurisdiction.
D. 
Reclassification and correction. The Police Chief or his designee, the Town Clerk or his designee, and the Chief Fire Marshal or his designee shall have the authority to review activated alarm reports and to resolve clerical errors or reclassification of information pertaining to false alarms as appropriate.
None of the provisions of this local law shall apply to a fire or police alarm device or devices installed in a motor vehicle or on a boat.
A. 
Violations. The following shall constitute violations of this chapter:
(1) 
Failure to obtain a permit from the Town Clerk as required in § 79-30.
(2) 
Failure to register with the Town Clerk as required in § 79-40.
(3) 
Failure to provide records as required in § 79-50.
(4) 
Failure to pay false alarm charges as required § 79-80.
B. 
Penalties. Any person, firm or corporation who or which is found by the Justice Court to have committed a violation of this chapter shall be subject to the Justice Court imposing a fine not to exceed $250 for each offense. Any such fine shall be in addition to any charges due and owing pursuant to § 79-80. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during which a violation occurs or is committed.
It shall be the duty of the Town Ordinance Enforcement Officers, the Town police, and the Town Fire Marshal to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
The provisions of this local law are severable. If any provision of this local law or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid, said invalidity shall not affect any other provision or application of this local law which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application of the local law.