(A) Permit. No person, firm or corporation shall hereafter be authorized to have a direct connection to the city facilities for a fire or burglar alarm system within the corporate limits of the city or from any adjoining city, village or county which has entered into a communications service agreement with the city without first obtaining a permit.
(1) The permit application shall be on a form prescribed by the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief. In addition, all applicants shall agree as follows.
(a) The city and the company, if any, under contract or agreement to maintain the receiving alarm equipment within city facilities shall not be held liable for any claimed failure of service or any damage that may result from the installation, maintenance or operation of the alarm system which is and shall remain entirely the alarm holder’s responsibility.
(b) To indemnify, defend and save harmless the city and the company, if any, under contract or agreement to maintain the receiving alarm equipment in the city facilities from all claims, demands, judgments, liability, costs and expenses that may arise, in any way, as a result of the alarm connection to city facilities.
(c) Neither the city nor the company, if any, under contract or agreement to maintain the receiving alarm equipment within city facilities are liable for any costs or expense of installation, lease, maintenance, service or any other charges or fees for any alarm equipment leased or owned by the applicant.
(2) All applicants must certify that they have alarm system maintenance provided on a 24-hour basis.
(B) Equipment. All burglar alarms hereafter connected to the city facilities shall be compatible with the city’s monitoring equipment and conform to the most recent specifications of the American National Standards Institute or equivalent specifications of an approved rating bureau. Fire alarms hereafter connected shall be compatible with the city’s monitoring equipment and conform to the latest National Fire Protection Association Edition of Standard 72C or equivalent specifications of an approved rating bureau.
(1) Diagrams, plans/schematics of any fire alarm system installation shall be submitted to the Fire Department for its review and approval prior to the beginning of installation of such alarm and the fire alarm system shall be inspected and approved by the Fire Department prior to the system being activated.
(2) Any violation of this section shall be cause for the denial of a permit or result in the disconnection of an alarm system.
(C) Connection and maintenance fees.
(1) An initial one time fee as specified in the contract negotiated with the city’s alarm company for each direct connection permit shall be paid at the time of application for a direct connection permit to city facilities. A residence, business or institution having both a fire and burglar alarm system requires two direct connections. Such fee is not refundable even if the alarm system is disconnected or discontinued for any reason. A residence, business or institution which at the time of enactment of the ordinance has a direct connection to the city or an authorized automatic dialer system connected to the city’s unlisted telephone number shall not be subject to the connection fee.
(2) There shall be an annual maintenance fee for each direct connection and each authorized automatic dialer system connected to the city’s unlisted telephone number as specified in the contract negotiated with the city’s alarm company.
(D) Issuance. Upon compliance with all requirements of divisions (A) through (C) above, the Chief of Police/Fire Chief shall issue a permit.
(E) Testing of equipment. No alarm designed to transmit emergency signals directly to city facilities shall be tested or demonstrated without first having obtained permission from the officer in charge of the Police or Fire Department. Permission is not required to test or demonstrate alarm devices not transmitting emergency signals directly to the Police or Fire Departments unless the messages are to be relayed to the Police and Fire Departments.
(F) Disconnection and reconnection to city facilities.
(1) Causes for disconnection from city facilities.
(a) Failure to pay any fees, maintenance charges or service charges required by this subchapter shall be cause for the Police or Fire Chief to disconnect an alarm system after 30 days’ written notice.
(b) Twelve false alarms from any one alarm system within any 12-month period shall be cause for the Police or Fire Chief to disconnect an alarm system after 30 days’ written notice.
(c) Three or more trouble indications within any 12-month period shall be cause for the Police or Fire Chief to disconnect an alarm system after 30 days’ written notice.
(d) Any alarm system which continues to transmit a trouble indication for any period for more than 48 hours shall be cause for the Police or Fire Chief to disconnect an alarm system, but only after making reasonable efforts to contact the responsible party.
(e) The alarm holder shall be responsible for any cost or charge arising from the disconnection.
(2) Reconnection to city facilities.
(a) If an alarm system has been disconnected because of non-payment of any fees or charges, upon payment in full of all outstanding fees and charges, the alarm system may be reconnected to city facilities.
(b) If an alarm system has been disconnected because of trouble indications, the alarm holder must submit a written statement indicating that repairs have been made to correct the mechanical/ electrical problem in the system. After verification that the system is properly functioning, the alarm system may be reconnected to city facilities.
(c) If an alarm system has been disconnected because of false alarms, the alarm holder must submit a written statement indicating the reason(s) for the false alarms and stating what measures have been taken to prevent or minimize future false alarms. Upon review of status, the alarm system may be reconnected at the discretion of the Police or Fire Chief.
(d) The alarm holder shall be responsible for any cost or charge arising from the reconnection.
(Prior Code, § 23-153) (Ord. 1513, passed 6-3-1985; Ord. 1760, passed 5-2-1988)