[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Montville 7-9-2001
by Ord. No. O-W-4[1] (Part 70 of the 1991 Compilation). Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: Statutory authority for this ordinance is found in
C.G.S. § 7-148. This ordinance further provided that it takes effect
1-1-2002.
The purpose of this chapter is to:
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
A board constituted of duly appointed citation hearing officers who
shall conduct a hearing upon receipt of an appeal from one who is aggrieved
by an assessment of fine(s) levied pursuant to this chapter.
Any person, firm, corporation or other business entity who or which
owns, controls, operates, and maintains any alarm system as defined in Subsection
A of the definition of "alarm systems" in this section.
ALARM SYSTEMAny device or equipment that is capable of automatically calling and relaying recorded emergency messages to any state police or municipal police or fire department telephone number, or that is capable of automatically calling and relaying recorded emergency messages or other forms of emergency signals to an intermediate third party that thereafter calls and relays such emergency message to a state police or municipal police or fire department telephone number.
BURGLAR ALARMAny alarm system falling within the definition of Subsection A above of this definition that is designed to transmit a signal in the event of intrusion, holdup or other type of emergency situation.
FIRE ALARMAny system that falls within the definition of Subsection A above of this definition that is designed to transmit an alarm relating to a fire.
Refers to an alarm system that automatically sends over regular telephone
lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded voice message indicating
the existence of an emergency situation that the alarm system is designed
to detect.
Refers to a company equipped to receive burglar, fire, panic, intruder,
or holdup alarms from each of its customers and which then transmits to the
State Police, Montville Police or the Town of Montville Fire Departments the
location of any such alarm the central station operating company receives.
Refers to the Chief Executive Officer of the Town of Montville pursuant
to the Montville Town Charter until such time as the Town may organize an
independent Police Department and appoints a Chief of Police.
Refers to a person duly appointed by the Mayor to conduct appeal
hearings.
The unintentional activation of an alarm system as hereinbefore defined
as a result of negligence, mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation,
improper operation, ignorance, inadvertence, or other cause excluding activation
caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, or other abnormal weather events
or other abnormal events generally referred to as an "act of God"; also excluded
is the intentional activation of a system with criminal, malicious or mischievous
intent that would be a violation under applicable criminal statutes.
Refers to the duly appointed Fire Marshal of the Town of Montville.
January 1 through June 30, or July 1 through December 31, as the
case may be, of any calendar year.
A person, firm, corporation, or other business entity who owns, controls
or maintains on his or her business or residential premises a fire alarm system
equipped to send a fire alarm signal directly to the Montville Police or Town
of Montville Fire Departments by way of a master box.
A.
Any person, firm, corporation or other business entity
who owns, controls or operates an alarm system as hereinbefore defined who
has not complied with the provisions of C.G.S. § 7-282b shall provide
the information required by the following section of this chapter within 30
days after notification to do so.
B.
Any person or persons, firm, corporation or other business
entity installing an alarm system within the Town of Montville shall register
at least 10 days prior to installation the following information to the Chief
of Police for burglar alarms, and the Fire Marshal for fire alarms. The Chief
of Police and the Fire Marshal are allowed the prerogative to authorize installation
sooner if they choose.
(1)
For monitored systems the name, address and telephone
number of the central station operating company.
(2)
For systems not monitored by a central station monitoring
company the name, street number (apartment number, suite number or floor,
as may apply) and home and work telephone number of the owners/users of the
premises to be protected. The names, addresses, home and work telephone numbers
of at least two persons other than the alarm owner/user who can be contacted
24 hours a day, who are authorized by the alarm owner/user to respond to the
premises upon request of the police or fire officer in charge and who have
access to the premises and the authorization to silence or reset an alarm
system.
C.
Every alarm owner/user shall be responsible for updating
the information required herein to be provided to the Montville Police Department
or the Town of Montville Fire Departments within five working days of any
change.
Alarm systems shall be installed only by a licensed person, owner or
person meeting the requirements set forth in the building and electrical codes
of the State of Connecticut and the Connecticut Fire Safety Code. No alarm
system shall be installed unless an electric permit to install has been obtained
from the Town building official or his designated representative, as is required
by the building and electric codes of the State of Connecticut.
No person, firm, business or corporation shall install an automatic
telephone-dialing device that will transmit an alarm message within the Town
of Montville terminating at the Montville 911 Emergency Dispatch Center. If
at the passage of this chapter an alarm system is equipped with such automatic
telephone-dialing device, the alarm owner/user shall have 30 days to disconnect
such automatic telephone-dialing device.
All alarm systems, as defined in this chapter, which sound an audible
signal that may be heard outside the protected premises shall be equipped
with a device that will limit the duration of such audible signal to not more
than 10 minutes in accordance with Section 22a-69-5.1 of the Administrative
Regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection of the State of
Connecticut.
A.
In the event that there are two false alarms from a particular
residence, business, firm or corporation within a half-year period, the Chief
of Police or the Fire Marshal shall issue a written warning as to the violation
of this chapter, and if there is a third false alarm within the same half-year
period, the Chief of Police or the Fire Marshal may assess a penalty of $100
for that false alarm and each subsequent false alarm that occurs during the
remainder of the half-year period.
B.
Any person, firm, business or corporation who shall violate
any provision of this chapter may be fined $100 for each violation thereof.
Each violation shall be considered a separate offense.
A.
In the event of the violation of any provision of this
chapter, the Chief of Police or the Fire Marshal shall issue a written warning
to the alleged offender setting forth the specific nature of the violation
and the specific section of this chapter violated. If the violation continues,
the Chief of Police or the Fire Marshal, as the case may be, may issue a citation
pursuant to C.G.S. § 7-148(c)(10)(a) assessing the fine(s).
B.
Upon issuance of a citation, the provisions of C.G.S.
§ 7-152c, as amended, shall be followed.
C.
Pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes, the Chief of
Police or the Fire Marshal is authorized to seek an injunction or to take
such other legal action as may be applicable to any particular situation.
D.
The Chief of Police or the Fire Marshal shall collect
any and all penalties assessed pursuant to this chapter and shall deposit
same with the Town Treasurer for deposit into the Town's general fund.
A.
Pursuant to C.G.S. § 7-152c, as amended, the
Town of Montville hereby establishes an Alarm Appeals Board which shall have
the powers and duties conferred upon it in C.G.S. § 7-152c.
B.
The Alarm Appeals Board will be comprised of three citation
hearing officers appointed by the Mayor to three-year terms.
C.
The membership shall consist of a member of the Town
Council, a member of the Public Safety Commission, and the third member shall
be from the public at large.
D.
The Office of the Mayor or the Fire Marshal's Office
shall provide clerical and other support to the Alarm Appeals Board.
E.
Persons, businesses, or corporations issued a citation
shall be concurrently apprised of their right to a hearing before the Alarm
Appeals Board and the process for filing such an appeal pursuant to this chapter.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation aggrieved by the issuance
of a citation may submit a written appeal within 10 days of receiving such
citation, pursuant to C.G.S. § 7-152c, as amended. Any person, firm
or corporation who does not deliver or mail a written demand for a hearing
within the 10 days following receipt of a citation shall be deemed to have
admitted liability.[1]
B.
Upon receipt of a timely appeal from a false alarm charge,
the Alarm Appeals Board shall hold a hearing to consider it and shall mail
a notice of the time and place of said hearing to the alarm user at his/her
last known address at least 15 days before the hearing. On the basis of information
provided by the alarm user and other information introduced at the hearing,
the Board shall affirm the charge was properly imposed or rescind the charge
if it finds the charge was not properly imposed.
This chapter shall not apply to alarm systems owned or controlled by
the Town of Montville, the State of Connecticut, or the United States of America.
