[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Freehold 6-24-2003 by Ord. No. O-03-15.] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. 150.
Rapid entry system — See Ch. 162, Art. IV.
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings indicated:
ADEQUATE RADIO COVERAGE
A. 
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;
B. 
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;
C. 
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;
D. 
A reliability factor of 100%.
GROSS FLOOR AREA
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.
HEIGHT
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.
STRUCTURE
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
C. 
The testing procedure described in § 111-7 is undertaken and results obtained; 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.
Upon conviction or guilty plea for violation of any provision of this chapter, the person/entity so pleading or convicted shall be liable for the penalties prescribed by Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty.