A. Responsibility For Operation And Maintenance: Each person, firm or corporation servicing the operation or maintenance of an alarm of any type covered by this chapter shall be responsible for any false alarms transmitted by the device which they service.
B. Record Of Alarms Transmitted: The emergency alarm administrator shall maintain a record of all alarms transmitted and, pursuant to the required notice and opportunity to be heard, may revoke the permit for operation of an alarm involved in the transmission of six (6) false alarms in a calendar month not caused by unusual weather conditions or interruption of any telephone line service which is not the fault of the permit user.
C. Temporary Disconnection For Alarm System Failure: The emergency alarm administrator may order any alarm temporarily disconnected upon twenty four (24) hours' prior notice in the event of a failure by that alarm system that jeopardizes the operation of other alarm systems in the Lyons central monitoring system. Pursuant to such action, a letter shall be sent no later than the first regular business day after such disconnect to the user informing the user of this action. No alarm system shall be reconnected until repairs have been made.
D. Procedure Upon Recording False Alarm: If the emergency alarm administrator records a false alarm from the user's protected premises, the following procedure shall be utilized:
1. Upon receipt of a fourth false alarm within a calendar or fiscal one-half (1/2) year (6 months), as established by the village board on adoption of this chapter, the emergency alarm administrator shall issue a false alarm notice to the permit holder for each violation of this chapter which shall require a penalty per occurrence according to the following schedule:
Penalty Schedule | ||
False Alarm Per 6 Month Period | Penalty | |
Penalty Schedule | ||
False Alarm Per 6 Month Period | Penalty | |
1st, 2nd, and 3rd | No charge | |
4th, 5th and 6th | Police response | $ 25.00 |
Fire department response | 150.00 | |
7th, 8th and 9th | Police response | 50.00 |
Fire department response | 150.00 | |
10th or more | Police response | 100.00 |
Fire department response | 200.00 | |
Exception: No charge shall be imposed for false alarms for thirty (30) days from the date of installation and/or the date of major alterations, nor shall a charge be made for false alarms activated by weather related conditions, telephone or electrical interruptions or other such unusual occurrences outside the ability of the alarm user to prevent.
2. On receipt of the tenth false alarm within the six (6) month period, the emergency alarm administrator shall notify the permit holder and servicing alarm business by certified mail that any additional false alarms shall be cause to begin the process to revoke the alarm permit.
3. On receipt of the eleventh false alarm within the six (6) month period, the emergency alarm administrator shall notify the permit holder and servicing alarm business by certified mail that the alarm permit shall be revoked ten (10) days from the mailing date unless the alarm user and/or servicing alarm business:
a. Submits a report indicating corrective action that has been taken to correct the problems that have resulted in false alarms; or
b. Requests a hearing with the emergency alarm administrator to indicate corrective action that has been taken or is planned, or reasons that the problems cannot currently be corrected but will be corrected in the near future. Such hearing must take place within twenty (20) days of the mailing of notice of intent to revoke the permit.
4. If the permit holder submits a written report, the alarm administrator shall determine if the corrective action may reasonably be expected to prevent further false alarms. If he determines that the actions should prevent additional false alarms, he shall notify the permit holder in writing that the permit will not be revoked.
5. If a hearing is requested, it shall be held within ten (10) working days of the request. The emergency alarm administrator shall provide the permit holder with an opportunity to present such information as necessary to explain the false alarms and that actions have been or will be taken to prevent further occurrences. If the emergency alarm administrator determines that corrective action is being taken to prevent false alarms, the permit holder shall be advised that the permit will not be revoked.
6. If no report is submitted and no hearing requested, or if the information provided by the permit holder does not indicate that proper corrective action is being taken to prevent false alarms, the emergency alarm administrator shall notify the permit holder that the alarm permit is revoked and that the use of the alarm is not allowed.
7. If the permit holder is dissatisfied with the action taken by the emergency alarm administrator, the permit holder may request a hearing before the village manager or his designee. Such request must be delivered in writing to the village manager within five (5) working days of the receipt of the notice of revocation, and such hearing must be held within ten (10) days' notice of revocation. A finding shall be rendered within ten (10) days of the hearing. No alarm will be disconnected by the village during the hearing process, which shall include: a) mandatory time allowed for the appeal of the decision of the emergency alarm administrator; and b) the maximum time allowed to render an administrative decision.
8. Any building required to have a fire alarm system by the codes of the village or the rules and regulations of the Illinois state fire marshal shall be exempt from the disconnection provisions of this chapter. However, all other penalties shall remain in effect.
9. No permit shall be issued until all penalties assessed by this chapter have been paid in full to the village offices. (1965 Code § 9-15-14)