A. Fees Established:
1. The City Council shall, by Code established in section 3-1-3 of this title, establish fees for fire protection service and/or emergency response which are not otherwise specified by contract. Said fees shall be established at a fixed rate for certain specific types of incidents or for actual costs incurred by the Fire Department in responding to the incident.
a. False Alarms: Fees for response to false fire alarms and false carbon monoxide alarms shall be charged to the property owner or tenant for any incident after the third call to the property within a twelve (12) month period.
b. Chemical/Hazardous Materials Spills: Fees incurred by the City for response to chemical spills on roadways and at fixed private facilities within the Albertville fire service area shall be charged to the owner of the chemical, the owner of the vehicle in which the chemical is being shipped or is a part thereof, or to the owner of the facility where the spill occurred.
2. Fees shall include, but shall not be limited to, actual manpower costs for all personnel that respond to the incident (minimum of 1 hour) and the cost on a per hour basis for each fire apparatus or other City mechanical equipment that responds to the incident (minimum of 1 hour per unit) as established in section 3-1-3 of this title.
3. In addition, the bill for service shall include any cost of cleanup of any contaminated equipment and/or repair of any equipment damaged during the incident or its replacement, along with replacement of any disposable equipment, supplies, and/or communication equipment, and administrative costs to be established at ten percent (10%) of the total bill.
B. Fire Watch: Fees for personnel to stand by on fire watch due to unusual fire hazards, while waiting for the property owner or tenant to respond to the scene following a fire incident and/or fire alarm, may be billed to the owner of the property or the tenant, or both, on a per hour basis with a one hour minimum as established in section 3-1-3 of this title. One-fifth (1/5) of the fee shall be retained by the City for administrative costs, and four-fifths (4/5) of the fee shall be paid to fire personnel standing fire watch. If a fire watch is established at a property, the watch shall be maintained until the owner of the property, the tenant, or his/her designated representative arrives at the property and takes over responsibility for monitoring fire safety, or until the Fire Department personnel on the scene determine that such responsible person either cannot be located or is unwilling to take over responsibility for monitoring fire safety, or until the Fire Department personnel on the scene determine that a fire watch is no longer necessary.
C. Preventative Fire Watch: When Fire Department personnel provide fire watch protection, the fees for such personnel may be billed to the owner of the property or the tenant on a per hour basis with a one hour minimum as established in section 3-1-3 of this title. One-fifth (1/5) of the fee shall be retained by the City for administrative costs and four-fifths (4/5) shall be paid to fire personnel standing fire watch. Preventative fire watch is required in any place of assembly or any place where people congregate where public safety is at risk due to the number of persons, or the nature of the performance, exhibition, display, contest, or activity, or due to unusual fire hazards.
D. Car Fires And Accidents: The City shall charge a fire protection and emergency response fee, as established in section 3-1-3 of this title, when there are responses to car fires and accidents. (Ord. 1997-14, 9-22-1997; amd. Ord. Ord. 2017-01, 1-3-2017; Ord. 2018-01, 1-2-2018; Ord. 2019-13, 12-16-2019)