[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Freehold 6-24-2003 by Ord. No. O-03-15.] Amendments noted
where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following words
shall have the meanings indicated:
The minimum usable signal required to provide
a clear message that is intelligible and where each word is understandable
in the presence of occasional noise or occasional distortion in 95%
of the area of each floor of the building when transmitted from the
closest Freehold Township police radio communications system site;
The minimum usable signal required to provide
a clear message that is intelligible and where each word is understandable
in the presence of occasional noise or occasional distortion at the
closest Freehold Township police radio communications site when transmitted
from 95% of the area of each floor of the building;
The frequency range which must be supported
shall be 500 to 506 MHZ, 154.430, 154.175, 154.205, 154.265, 159.375,
153.830, 155.175, 155.340 and 155.280 VHF and;
A reliability factor of 100%.
The sum of the areas of the floor or floors of a building
which are enclosed and suitable for human occupancy and having a clear
ceiling height of at least seven feet, six inches, but including closet
space, attached garages and hallways and excluding cellars, attics,
dead air space, open porches, breezeways, and all accessory buildings.
Such area shall be measured from outside to outside of exterior walls.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade at the front of the structure to the highest
point of the roof for flat roofs, and to the mean height between eaves
and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
Any combination of materials forming a construction, assembly
or erection, the use of which require location upon or below the ground
or attachment to something having a location upon or below the ground,
including among other things, buildings, motor vehicle parking garages,
fences, walls, signs, radio towers, swimming pools, light stanchions,
platforms and manufactured/mobile homes.
[Amended 12-22-2009 by Ord. No. O-09-36]
The owner of a structure used as a motor vehicle
parking facility and the owner of each nonresidential structure in
the Township which is 250,000 square feet or more of gross floor area
and 35 feet or more in height must annually apply for and receive
a license from the Township for such structure. No structure, required
under this chapter to be licensed, shall be used or occupied unless
licensed.
Licenses shall be issued on a calendar-year basis. Application for a license hereunder shall be secured from the office of the Township Clerk. Completed applications, together with a fee of as provided in Chapter 150, Fees, shall be filed no later than November 1 prior to the license year.
No structure shall be licensed unless there
is adequate radio coverage as verified by a radio coverage survey
as described hereafter, except that a license may be issued for the
first calendar year following adoption of this chapter if:
A.
A complete application is filed; and
B.
The application fee is paid; and
D.
The applicant presents a viable plan, for assuring
adequate radio coverage will be achieved, within nine months from
the effective date of this chapter; and
E.
The applicant submits a written certification that
all necessary steps to achieve adequate radio coverage will be completed
prior to one year from the effective date of this chapter.
In order to determine if a new building or structure
needs radio equipment, a computer-generated radio coverage prediction
using a state-of-the-art propagation analysis system such as RCC's
COMSITE™ or its equivalent, will be performed against the above
criteria by Freehold Township authorized personnel. If a determination
is made that the new building or structure needs radio equipment,
a certificate of occupancy shall not be issued until the new radio
equipment is tested and meets the adequate radio coverage as described
in this chapter.
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 500 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. The battery system shall automatically
charge in the presence of an external power input.
A.
Acceptance test 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 95%. Each floor of the
building shall be divided into a grid of approximately 20 equal areas.
A maximum of one area will be allowed to fail the test. If more than
one area fails the test, the building owner shall have the system
altered to meet the ninety-five-percent coverage requirement. The
test shall be conducted using a hand-held-type Freehold Township portable,
worn at the hip, with the use of standard lapel speaker/microphone,
talking through the Freehold Township police radio communications
system. 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 Freehold Township Police Department communications system. Once
the spot has been selected, prospecting for a better spot within the
grid area will not be permitted.
(2)
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 test so to reestablish
the gain values.
B.
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 purpose.
C.
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.
All tests shall be conducted, documented and
signed by a person in possession of a current FCC license, or a current
technical certification issued by the Associated Public-Safety Communications
Officials International (APCO) or the Personal Communications Industry
Association (PCIA). All test records shall be retained on the inspected
premises by the building owner and a copy submitted to the Freehold
Township Police Department.
Freehold Township police personnel and/or their
technical representatives, 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. Before doing so, the Police Department
shall notify the various fire companies and the First Aid Squad serving
the Township that such field testing is being scheduled so that if
any such companies/squad want to participate in such field testing,
they may do so at the same time as the field testing is being done
by the Police Department.
