[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 1]
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 Charlestown Township
and the public in general. Therefore, pursuant to the police power,
the Board enacts this Part to protect the public health, safety, and
welfare.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 2]
The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this
section and as used elsewhere in this Part, have the meanings shown
herein.
Association of Public Safety Communication Officials International.
Chester County Department of Emergency Services.
Emergency services providers as defined by the current Township
resolution outlining the methods and agencies chosen to fulfill the
public safety needs of the Township.
Federal Communications Commission.
National Association of Business and Education Radio.
National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee.
Personal Communications Industry Association.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 3]
1.
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall erect, construct, alter,
refit, occupy, 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 CCDES or the ESP's serving the Township. For
the purposes of this section, adequate radio coverage shall include
all of the following:
A.
A minimum signal strength of -95dBM available in 90% of the area
of each floor of the building when transmitted from the closest CCDES
radio communications system site.
B.
A minimum signal strength of -95dBM received at the closest CCDES
radio communications site when transmitted from 90% of the area of
each floor of the building.
C.
The frequency range, which must be supported from 806.0125 MHz —
868.9875 MHz.
D.
A 90% reliability factor.
E.
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. 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 date of notification to enhance radio coverage and bring
it within the acceptable limits of these provisions.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 4]
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. If used, bidirectional amplifiers shall
include filters to reduce adjacent frequency interference at 35dB
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 NSPAC frequencies.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 5]
1.
Acceptance Test Procedure.
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 into 40 equal
areas. In such event, a maximum of four nonadjacent areas will be
allowed to fail the test. After the 40 area tests, 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 ESP, 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.
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 values.
2.
Annual Tests. 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 within the manufacturer's specifications for the
intended purposes.
3.
Five-Year Tests. In addition to the annual test, the building owner
shall perform a radio coverage test a minimum of once every five years
to ensure 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.
4.
Qualifications of Testing Personnel. 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 and a copy submitted to officials of
the ESP.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 6]
Police and fire personnel serving the Township, 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.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 7]
This Part shall not apply to structures in Use Groups R-3 and
R-4 of the International Building Code, any building constructed of
wood frame, 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 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.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 8]
Any nonexempt building or structure existing, under construction or for which a building permit application is pending or has been provided as of the effective date of this section, shall comply with the requirements of this section if the CCDES or any of the ESP's serving the Township determines that adequate radio coverage as defined in § 10-503 of this Part 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 within the acceptable limits of this section.
[Ord. 141-2007, 9/4/2007, § 10; as amended by Ord.
160-2010, 10/4/2010]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this Part, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before
a magisterial district judge in the manner provided for the enforcement
of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure,
shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $150 nor more than
$1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs,
to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation
of this Part continues or each section of this Part which shall be
found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense. In
addition, the Township, through its Solicitor, may institute injunctive,
mandamus or any other appropriate action or proceeding at law or in
equity for the enforcement of this Part.
