[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Fairview 6-25-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-5 (Ch. 4, Part 2, of
the 1991 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Public
Safety Radio Amplification System Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum standards
to ensure a reasonable degree of reliable emergency services communications
from within certain buildings and structures located within the Township
of Fairview between public safety users and emergency communications
centers.
[Amended 6-25-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-5]
The following words and/or terms shall, for the purpose of this
chapter and as used elsewhere in this Code, have the meanings shown
herein:
Associates Public Safety Communications Officials International.
Delivered audio quality.
Speech understandable without repetition; some noise distortion.
Federal Communications Commission.
National Association of Business and Education Radio.
Personal communications industry.
In accordance with FCC rules as of November 29, 2001, any
device at a fixed location which automatically receives, amplifies,
and retransmits, on a one-way or two-way basis, the signals received
from base, fixed, mobile, and portable stations, with no change in
frequency or authorized bandwidth. A signal booster may be either
narrowband (Class A), in which case the booster amplifies only those
discrete frequencies intended to be retransmitted, or broadband (Class
B), in which case all signals within the passband of the signal booster
filter are amplified.
York County Department of Emergency Services.
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 or a part thereof,
or cause the same to be done, which fails to support adequate radio
coverage for YCDES and/or the Fairview Township local public emergency
service agencies.
B.
Any building or structure that has not received a certificate of
occupancy as of the effective date of this chapter shall comply with
this section if the YCDES and/or Fairview Township determines that
adequate radio coverage, as herein 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 section, including but not limited to enhancing
radio coverage and bringing it to within the acceptable limits of
this chapter.
C.
For purposes of this section, adequate radio coverage shall include
all of the following:
(1)
A minimum signal strength of -95 dBM available in 90% of the area
of each floor of the building when transmitted from the closest YCDES
radio communications system site.
(2)
A minimum signal strength of -95 dBM received at the closest YCDES
radio communications site when transmitted from 90% of the area of
each floor of the building.
(3)
The frequency range that must be supported shall be between 500.0000
and 512.0000 MHz.
(4)
A 90% reliability factor.
(5)
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.
D.
The provisions of this section shall become applicable upon notification
to the property owner that unacceptable levels exist. The property
owner shall have 90 days from the 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.
A.
Acceptance testing procedure.
(1)
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%.
(2)
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 or more of the areas fail
the test, in order to be more statistically accurate, the floor may
be divided into 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(s) shall have
the system altered/modified to meet the 90% coverage requirements.
(3)
The test shall be conducted using the most current M/A-COM portable
radio, or its equivalent, available to the Fairview Township public
safety entity, talking though the YCDES radio system 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 YCDES radio network. A minimum
DAQ 3.4 will be required for this test in order to consider the test
to be acceptable. Once this test spot has been selected for testing,
prospecting for a better spot within the grid area will not be permitted.
(4)
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.
B.
Annual tests. When an in-building radio system is required, the building
owner(s) 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 purposes.
All tests shall be conducted, documented and signed by a person
in possession of a current FCC technical 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(s),
and a copy shall be submitted to Fairview Township and to the Executive
Director of the YCDES within 30 days from the date the test was conducted.
The Township Manager or his/her designee, 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 minimum level of radio coverage is present.
This chapter shall not apply to single-family dwelling units,
attached or detached, and multifamily dwelling units in the Residential
Single, Residential Multifamily, Residential Village, and Residential
Rural Zoning Districts or building(s) and/or structure(s), not to
exceed 35 feet in height, that are constructed of wood frame, 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
section, 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.
A.
Penalties. Any person who is found in violation of any provision
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or to undergo imprisonment for
a term not to exceed 90 days. Each day the violation of this chapter
continues shall constitute a separate offense.
B.
The Township, in addition to any of the remedies available to it,
may take appropriate action at law or equity, civil or criminal, to
enforce the provisions of this chapter, or to enjoin or otherwise
restrain or prevent violation of this chapter, and this chapter shall
in no way restrict any remedies otherwise provided by law.
