(a) A fee shall be established by ordinance of City Council and amended from time to time for Police Department responses to false electronic, alarm service or notifier alarms, in excess of two such in any twelve-month calendar year, except as provided in subsection (b) hereof.
(b) All Fire Department responses to false fire alarms shall be charged a service fee established by ordinance of City Council and amended from time to time. The cost of a residential false fire alarm shall be assessed after one such false alarm in a twelve-month calendar year. False alarm fees for commercial, non-profit, tax exempt, including the properties of the Johnstown Housing Authority, shall be assessed after the third such false alarm in any twelve-month calendar year.
(c) The City will not serve as intervenor in the case of disputes arising between the alarm service provider and any other person regarding the delivery of alarm service, the quality of the alarm system equipment or the maintenance thereof.
(d) False alarms received during the first two weeks after a new alarm installation, or
periods when such systems are under repair or malfunction, with notification to the Fire Department by way of telephone or verbal contact, will not be counted for the purposes of subsections (a), (b) and (c) hereof. Nothing herein authorizes any person to deliberately cause an alarm signal to be initiated without advance permission of the 911 Center and notification of either the Police or Fire Department.
(e) Exempt from all such fees are the educational and recreation facilities of the Greater Johnstown School District, the educational and recreational facilities of the Bishop McCort and the satellite parochial educational facilities within the City of Johnstown.
(Ord. 4706. Passed 12-21-94; Ord. 5021. Passed 7-9-08; Ord. 5064. Passed 3-24-10; Ord. 5353. Passed 5-31-23.)