[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Scotia 7-10-1991 by L.L. No. 3-1991. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 31.
Police Department — See Ch. 68.
Fire hydrants — See Ch. 143.
Fire prevention and building codes — See Ch. 150.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM DEVICE
Any type of alarm-actuating equipment which provides warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, burglary, flood or like perils, including dial alarms (devices using normal telephone lines transmitting notification by telephone directly to police headquarters or any other central dispatch area), direct alarms (devices using telephone lines terminating in an alarm panel located in police headquarters or any other central dispatch location) and any audible alarms or other type of alarm.
ALARM PANEL
That component installed in police headquarters containing alarm indications and designations.
ALARM SUPPLIER AND/OR INSTALLER AND/OR REPAIRER
Any person or party who manufactures, constructs, installs or otherwise prepares alarm systems or devices for use in the Village of Scotia. This shall not include businesses supplying alarms only and not being involved in the act of installing in any form.
ALARM SYSTEM
The installation in one or more buildings of one or more alarm devices for the express purpose of giving visual or audible warning, or both, of an emergency such as a burglary, intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or like perils.
AUDIBLE ALARM
A device that emits an audible signal for the premises that it is designed to protect.
CENTRAL DISPATCH STATION
A remote alarm monitoring station, other than a police and/or fire headquarters, away from the protected premises or building.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm signal necessitating response by the Police or Fire Department where an emergency situation does not exist.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other legal entity.
TAPE DIALER
Playback tape recorders that have prerecorded messages and which dial predetermined numbers and deliver a taped voice message.
A. 
No alarm supplier and/or installer and/or repairer and/or central dispatch station shall be permitted to do business in the Village of Scotia without being licensed to do so by said Village.
B. 
The annual fee for such license is $50.
C. 
An exception to this licensing is residents who install their own system upon their own premises.
Each alarm supplier and/or installer who sells or leases an alarm or device must offer service, directly or through an agent, on a twenty-four-hour basis seven days a week to repair such device so as to correct any malfunctions of the same that may occur. At the time of installation, each alarm equipment supplier shall furnish to the purchaser for whom the protective alarm device or system has been installed written information as to how service can be obtained at any time, including telephone numbers to call for service, and such person shall be responsible for having the device repaired within a reasonable time after he learns, either from his own sources or from notification by the Police Department, that the alarm system or device is not working properly. It shall be the responsibility of the alarm supplier and/or installer to inform the purchaser of any alarm system or device of the need for a permit for the system, and the alarm supplier and/or installer shall not complete installation of the device or system until such permit has been obtained. The supplier and/or installer is responsible to notify the Village of Scotia of any system or device that the supplier and/or installer has removed in the Village of Scotia.
Each central dispatch station which provides service, directly or through an agent, must provide said service on a twenty-four-hour basis seven days a week. It shall be the responsibility of the central dispatch station to inform the owner/lessee of any alarm system of the need for a Village permit for the system. The central dispatch station shall not service the alarm until such permit has been obtained. Each central dispatch station is responsible to notify the Village of Scotia Police Department of the installation and/or discontinuance of any monitoring site in the Village of Scotia.
A. 
Each central dispatch station must furnish the Scotia Police Department with current responsible party information as follows:
(1) 
The name, residence address and telephone number of the lessee/owner.
(2) 
The name, address and telephone number of any other person at a different location who is authorized to respond to an emergency and open the place where the alarm system is installed to reset the alarm.
(3) 
In the case of a business location, the names, addresses and phone numbers of at least three persons to contact who have access to the business.
B. 
Current responsible party information must be furnished upon initial installation of the system and at least annually thereafter in the month of January.
[Amended 3-13-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
No emergency alarm, silent or audible, as defined in § 90-1 of this chapter, shall be installed in the Village of Scotia which terminates in the Scotia police headquarters or other central dispatch area without the prior submission of an application to the Scotia Building Inspector to have said emergency alarm installed.
[Amended 3-13-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
Every owner/lessee of an alarm system or device must register said alarm system or device with the Village of Scotia and obtain a permit therefor from the Village Building Inspector. The permit applicant shall pay a fee according to a fee schedule established by the Board of Trustees.
A. 
Any type of alarm system or device terminating at the police headquarters of the Village of Scotia shall be either a direct-alarm type (devices using telephone lines terminating in an alarm panel located in police headquarters) or the dial-alarm type (devices using normal telephone lines transmitting notification by telephone directly to the police headquarters).
B. 
Tape-voiced dialers shall not terminate at or transmit to the police headquarters of the Village of Scotia over any designated emergency or business line. Only those dialers licensed and approved to transmit data to the Police Department's receiver over a designated data line may transmit to or terminate at police headquarters.
C. 
Installation of alarm systems, if connected to the Fire Department, must meet NFPA standards.
Any and all emergency alarm systems must be adequately maintained at all times. This maintenance will be carried out at the expense of the alarm permit holder and, when this maintenance involves any equipment located at the police headquarters, the maintenance shall be carried out only by personnel licensed by the Village of Scotia.
The following rules and regulations shall cover any type of protective alarm system, whether audible or silent. The rules and regulations pertain in any case where the Police Department or Fire Department must respond to an alarm, whether the system terminates at the police headquarters or not.
A. 
Every owner/lessee of an alarm system or device must furnish the Scotia Police Department or Fire Department with a current list of information which states the following:
(1) 
The name, residence address and telephone number of the lessee/owner.
(2) 
The name, address and telephone number of any other person at a different location who is authorized to respond to an emergency and open the place where the alarm system is installed to reset the alarm.
(3) 
In the case of a business location, the owner/lessee shall provide the Police Department or Fire Department with at least three persons to contact in case of an emergency and who have access to the building.
B. 
No owner/lessee of a building shall have in operation an audible alarm thereon unless such alarm shall be capable of and shall automatically terminate its operation within 30 minutes of its being activated and reset.
C. 
False alarms (as defined in § 90-1 of this chapter).
(1) 
Persistent false alarms are described as more than four false alarms reported within each calendar year.
(2) 
For every false alarm over the allowed four in a calendar year, the owner/lessee shall be charged a fee by the Village of Scotia.
(3) 
Persistent false alarms shall not include those false alarms caused by acts of God, natural disaster or other causes not under the control of the owner/lessee. Malfunctions of alarm equipment shall be considered as under the control of the owner/lessee.
D. 
Testing of the system or device shall be conducted in the following manner:
(1) 
No more than one test shall be conducted per calendar month unless otherwise authorized by the Police Department or, in the case of the Fire Department, by the Fire Department.
(2) 
The owner/lessee or his agent must notify the Police Department beforehand of the testing of the system either in person or by phone. When notifying the Police Department of the test, the person making the notification must indicate his permit number to the person notified, for purposes of security. If the person making the notification fails to give the permit number, it shall be a sign that this is an active alarm to the Police Department. The person notified shall, in turn, stamp the appropriate police complaint sheet and indicate the time of the alarm, the person who contacted the Police Department and the permit number.
The Scotia Police Department, the Scotia Fire Department and the Village of Scotia shall take every reasonable precaution to assure that emergency alarm signals received by the Village are given appropriate and immediate attention. Nevertheless, the Village shall not be liable for any defects in operation of emergency alarm systems, for any failure to respond appropriately or any errant response upon receipt of any emergency alarm signal nor for the failure or defect of any licensee pursuant to § 90-9 of this chapter in respect to the installation, operation or maintenance of equipment, the transmission of alarm signals or messages or the relaying of such signals or messages. In the event that the Village finds it necessary to disconnect a defective automatic or signaling device, the Village shall incur no liability therefrom.
[Amended 3-13-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
A. 
Any owner/lessee of an alarm device or system operating such device or system without a valid permit issued by the Village shall be guilty of a violation and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $250. Each week that the violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
B. 
Any alarm supplier and/or installer and/or repairer and/or central dispatch station which manufactures, constructs, installs, repairs or otherwise monitors alarm systems or devices for use in the Village of Scotia without a valid license issued by the Village shall be guilty of a violation and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $250.
C. 
Any owner/lessee who is charged a fee by this chapter shall pay said fee, within 10 days after notice, to the Village of Scotia Clerk-Treasurer's office. If said fee is not paid within the ten-day period after notice, the owner/lessee shall be in violation of this chapter and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $250.
D. 
Any violation of this chapter not provided for in Subsection A, B or C of this section shall constitute a violation and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $250.
E. 
A civil penalty of $100 per week is hereby imposed for each week's violation of this chapter, which penalty may be collected in any judgment rendered in a proceeding or civil action.
F. 
Every false alarm in excess of the four within a calendar year shall be subject to a fee or fine of $50 for the first such offense and $75 for each subsequent offense.
[Amended 3-13-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
Every violation of this chapter shall constitute a violation and shall be punishable as prescribed by law. In addition to the Police Department, the Village Building Inspector is authorized to enforce this chapter.
This chapter shall take effect upon filing in the office of the Secretary of State and State Comptroller. Alarm systems installed or in use at the effective date of this chapter shall conform to the requirements of this chapter within 120 days after the effective date hereof.