[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
As used in this Article, unless the context otherwise requires:
Shall mean any person (i) who installs alarm systems, other
than a principal, or (ii) who, pursuant to an agreement with a principal,
communicates the presence of an emergency by an alarm system sound
or signal to the city public safety department communications center
("PSDCC").
Shall mean any device (other than a device installed upon
premises occupied by the city) to detect, deter, prevent, sound, or
otherwise signal an intrusion, other criminal activity, fire, rescue,
or other emergency situation (collectively "emergency") which, when
activated, employs the use of:
Shall mean that part of an alarm system which when activated
sounds or signals an emergency by means of a bell, siren, buzzer or
similar sound-producing device which is audible from the protected
premises.
Shall mean the Ralston Chief of Police or the individual
or department designated by the City Council to perform such duties
as are imposed by this Article.
Shall mean a natural person whose name is included on an alarm system registration pursuant to Section 6-804, who has access to protected premises and who may be notified in the event an alarm system is activated.
Shall mean any sound or signal from an alarm system resulting
in a response by the Police, Fire and/or Rescue Department when an
emergency does not exist.
Shall mean a high security key box system of that brand name
or a similar system as designated by the Fire Department, designed
to give the Fire Department and emergency services personnel access
to locked buildings, elevators and other secured areas.
Shall include and be applied to a firm, partnership, association,
corporation, entity, organization or group, as well as to an individual.
Shall mean the person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, or organization whose premises are to be protected by an
alarm system. If the protected premises are leased, the principal
shall be the person in possession or control of the protected premises,
unless more than one tenant is served by a single alarm system, in
which event, "principal" shall mean the owner or landlord of the protected
premises.
Shall mean the area to be covered by an alarm system.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
It shall be unlawful for any person to install, use, or maintain
an alarm system in violation of any of the requirements of this Article
and any person doing so shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and
shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100.
Such fines shall be in addition to any other cost that is imposed
by the requirements of this Article, including, but not limited to,
any required cost of application for an alarm system and/or cost of
reimbursement to the city for a false alarm.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
a.
From and after the effective date of this Article, any alarm system
installed on protected premises shall be registered with the Coordinator
as set forth below:
1.
Existing Alarm Systems. Any alarm system which has been installed
as of the effective date of this Article shall be registered by the
principal within 60 days of such effective date. With respect to any
property which may be in the future annexed by the city, persons have
a period of 90 days from the effective date of such annexation to
comply with the requirements of this ordinance.
2.
New Alarm Systems. Any alarm business or principal that installs an alarm system on protected premises located within the corporate boundaries of the city shall have 10 days from the date of installation to register the alarm system as required by this Article. Renewals of alarm system registrations shall be made by the principal in accordance with Section 6-804.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003; amended by Ord. No.
1131, 2-19-2008]
a.
Each application for an alarm system registration and/or renewal
shall be made by the alarm business or principal, as applicable, on
a form prescribed by the Coordinator. At a minimum, the forms prescribed
by the Coordinator for alarm system registration or renewal shall
contain the following information:
1.
The name, address and telephone number of the principal.
2.
The use of the protected premises (e.g., home, office, variety store,
etc.) and the name of any business operating in the protected premises
by which the protected premises is known.
3.
The address of the protected premises. If the protected premises
is in a residential, commercial or industrial complex (e.g., office
building, apartment house, shopping center, etc.), the address shall
include the name, if any, by which the complex is commonly known.
4.
The names, addresses and telephone numbers, including home phone
numbers, of at least three natural persons and, if applicable, an
alarm business who have access to the protected premises and who may
be notified in the event the alarm system is activated.
5.
Certification by the principal that the principal's immediate family,
tenants or employees (as appropriate under the circumstances) who
have access to the protected premises have been given training which
include procedures and practices to avoid false alarms and steps to
follow in the event the alarm system is accidentally activated.
b.
The alarm business or principal, as applicable, shall remit, together with an alarm system registration and/or annual renewal application, a registration fee to the Coordinator, which shall accompany the registration and/or renewal application. The registration fee shall be $25 per year, and a late charge of $25 shall be assessed against any alarm business or principal that fails to pay the registration fee within 30 days after same becomes due. The Coordinator shall not be obligated to accept any alarm system registration application, or any renewal thereof, if the principal has failed to pay any registration fees, any corresponding late charges or any false alarm charges imposed on such principal as described in Section 6-809.
c.
Upon receipt of a registration or renewal application from an alarm
business or principal, as applicable, Coordinator shall register such
alarm system installed on the protected premises. The Coordinator
shall register the alarm system by issuing to the principal a registration
form bearing the name of the principal, the address of the protected
premises, and an identification number; and setting forth the expiration
date of the registration. The registration of any alarm system shall
not obligate the City or the PSDCC to respond or accord any priority
to any emergency.
d.
The initial registration shall expire on December 31 of the year
issued. Renewal registrations shall be due on the 1st day of January
of each year and shall expire on December 31st of each year. Registration
fees for the initial registrations shall be prorated to the month
of registration. The term of any registration shall expire whenever
there is a change of the principal. No refunds will be given on termination
of any registration for any reason.
e.
Registration may be renewed by the principal not more than 30 days
prior to the expiration of each term by registering with the Coordinator
in the same manner as provided in paragraph a of this section. Renewals
not made prior to January 30 shall be subject to the $25 late charge.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
a.
In addition to the requirements of Section 6-804, an application for a fire alarm system registration installed in a commercial, industrial or multifamily dwelling must be accompanied by an inspection report from an inspector licensed by the State of Nebraska certifying the alarm system has been installed and is working properly.
b.
In addition to the requirements of Section 6-804, in any property equipped with a Knox-Box®, the presence
of such Knox-Box® shall be designated
on such application. On any building so equipped, the Knox-Box® shall be located on the exterior of the protected
property adjacent to the main door and shall contain all necessary
keys for complete access to the building and fire alarm panel.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003; amended by Ord. No.
1131, 2-19-2008]
Within 10 days following any change of the circumstances contained in the registration on file, the principal shall supplant or amend all information which was provided to the Coordinator at the time of registration. No additional fee shall be due unless the change has terminated the registration as provided in paragraph (d) of Section 6-804.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
a.
The principal shall, at all times, be responsible for the proper
maintenance and repair of the alarm system, including the repair or
replacement of any component or design feature.
b.
Each alarm system, other than fire alarm systems, shall be programmed
and maintained so that each audible annunciator will automatically
silence within 15 minutes after being activated, and will not be reactivated
unless a new emergency occurs.
c.
An alarm system incorporating an audible annunciator shall not be
tested between the hours of 8:00 p.m. of any day and 7:00 a.m. of
the following day.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
Any alarm business communicating the presence of an emergency
to the PSDCC shall provide the following information:
a.
The name of the principal, the address of the protected premises,
the use of the protected premises (home, office, etc.) and the business
name, if any, by which the protected premises are known. Such information
shall be repeated a second time at the end of the message; and
b.
The name and telephone number of the principal, the principal's business
or its agent having ready access to the protected premises; and
c.
The apparent nature and type of emergency indicated, e.g., burglary
in progress, robbery, fire, rescue or other emergency.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
a.
As a condition of any alarm system registration issued under the
provisions of this Article, the principal shall agree to pay, and
where applicable, pay to the City an amount to reimburse the City
for its costs for any false alarm(s) generated by the principal's
alarm system, within 30 days of invoice by the City therefore, in
accordance with the following schedule:
|
Number of False alarm(s) Per Registration Term
|
False Alarm Reimbursement Amount
|
|---|---|
|
1
|
No charge
|
|
2
|
$100
|
|
3 or more
|
$250 each
|
|
The foregoing amounts shall be doubled if a designated representative
from the business or residence does not respond to the property within
30 minutes of the request of the police or fire personnel, PROVIDED,
however, that a designated representative need not respond to the
property within said time period if the property is equipped with
a functioning Knox-Box® system. If
the property is so equipped, the false alarm reimbursement costs shall
be in accordance with the following schedule:
|
|
Number of False alarm(s) Per Registration Term
|
False Alarm Reimbursement Amount With Knox-Box®
|
|---|---|
|
1
|
No charge
|
|
2
|
$50
|
|
3 or 4
|
$125 each
|
|
5 or more
|
$250 each
|
|
For purposes of this section, a principal's registration term shall mean the registration period described in accordance with Section 6-804. For purposes of the above described reimbursement amount schedule, a false alarm shall not be included if an activation of the alarm system was, as determined by the coordinator, caused by extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the principal or the principal's immediate family, tenants or employees (as may be appropriate under the circumstances). There is a presumption that a false alarm was reasonably subject to control by the principal.
|
b.
In addition to the false alarm reimbursement amounts provided in paragraph a of this section, the Coordinator may revoke the registration of any alarm system having over 10 false alarms within one year or whenever a false alarm charge becomes delinquent. Such revocation will have the effect of a person having an unregistered alarm and subject that person to the penalties set forth in Section 6-802. Written notice of the revocation of registration shall be mailed to the principal.
c.
Any principal who has been assessed a false alarm charge may, within
10 days of mailing the invoice assessing such charge, in writing,
request the Coordinator to review the assessment. Such request shall
mean that the false alarm charge shall not be due until 10 days following
a response by the coordinator. Along with the request for review by
the coordinator, the principal may communicate factual information
to support the assertion that the false alarm charge should not be
assessed. The burden of proving that an alarm was not a false alarm
shall be on the principal. The Coordinator shall make a determination
in writing within 10 days of such request.
d.
Any principal may appeal the Coordinator's decision regarding the:
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
a.
Notice or billing from the City to any alarm system registration
holder shall be deemed to have been given or rendered on the date
such notice or invoice is deposited in the U.S. mail, first class
postage, prepaid, addressed to the registration holder at the address
shown in the City's registration records. A certificate signed by
the person who mailed the notice or invoice shall be prima facie evidence
of the facts stated therein with respect to such notice or invoice.
b.
Notice to the City or payment under this Article shall be effective
when received by the appropriate City office.
[Added by Ord. No. 1067, 2-18-2003]
The Mayor and City Council, in lieu of utilizing the Chief of
Police or other City employee to perform the duties required of the
Coordinator pursuant to this Article, may contract with other agencies,
public or private, to perform such services upon such terms as may
be determined to be within the best interest of the Municipality.
