(A) Definitions.
ALARM BUSINESS. Any business operated for profit, which engages in the activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling, servicing, or responding to a burglary or holdup alarm system or fire alarm, or which causes any of these activities to take place.
ALARM EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS. Any person, firm, or corporation that sells, leases, or installs signaling devices which, upon activation, either automatically or manually, will transmit an alarm.
ALARM SYSTEMS. Any signaling device which is electronically operated which automatically sends visual and audible signals over a signal line to be registered by indicators at a monitor panel in a receiving terminal of the City’s Central Dispatch and/or alarm companies’ receiving location.
ALARM USER. Any person on whose premises an alarm system is maintained with the City of Mt. Vernon.
CITY OF MT. VERNON ALARM CONTRACTOR. The alarm company contracted by the City of Mt. Vernon for the installation and maintenance of the Police or Fire Department monitoring systems.
CITY’S CENTRAL DISPATCH. The Dispatch Station at the Mt. Vernon Police Station.
FALSE ALARM. The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or of his employee or agents. FALSE ALARM does not include alarm signals activated by violent conditions of nature, telephone line interruptions, acts of God, or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm business installer or alarm user.
FIRE CHIEF. The Chief of the Mt. Vernon Fire Department.
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM. A system which produces a signal at the premises protected.
POLICE CHIEF. The Chief of the Mt. Vernon Police Department.
(B) Monitoring System. The City of Mt. Vernon may contract for the installation of a uniform monitoring system to receive visual and audible signals over a line or lines at a central location. Such system shall have a capacity to meet present needs and the ability to expand for future needs and shall be available to any subscriber who meets the requirements for a permit for connection as defined in this Section.
(C) Application for Permit by Alarm Users.
(1) Each person within the City of Mt. Vernon who wishes to install in his home, place of business, or other premises an alarm system subsequent to September 1, 1987 which is connected to the Police Department or Fire Department through the City’s Central Dispatch or which automatically directly dials the City’s Central Dispatch or which produces an audible signal at the premises, other than a single station smoke detector, shall obtain an installation permit for each separate alarm system he/she wishes to connect.
(2) Application for each separate fire alarm system shall be submitted to the Fire Chief, and permits for each separate police alarm system shall be submitted to the Police Chief and shall be subject to the approval of the respective Chief. Provided, however, that application for alarms in conjunction with new construction may be submitted to the Building Inspector, although such application shall be subject to the approval of the respective Chief. No application fee shall be charged for a permit.
(3) (a) The application for an alarm system user permit shall include the following: name, address, and telephone numbers of the alarm user; and the type of business organization (individual, partnership, or corporation); if a partnership, the names and addresses of the partners; and if a corporation, the names and addresses of the principal officers and the state where incorporated. The application shall also include the name and address of an authorized individual who shall be available during any hour of any day.
(b) The issuance of a permit shall in no way constitute a warranty of the signaling device involved, and issuance of said permit shall be specifically subject to the City of Mt. Vernon’s disclaimer of liability as detailed in this Section and further detailed in the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/1-101 et seq.
(c) The alarm user applicant shall provide a “hold harmless” statement with the application. The hold harmless statement will contain the following wording:
“In consideration of the issuance of a permit for the installation of the requested direct police and/or fire alarm connection to the Police and/or Fire Department, the owner-applicant herein on behalf of himself and his co-workers, if any, his heirs, administrators, executors, and assigns hereby releases the City of Mt. Vernon, a municipal corporation, its officers, employees, and alarm monitoring contractor from any and all liability, suits, judgments, claims of any kind or nature, including attorney fees and court costs arising or which may arise from the use, utilization, or maintenance of said alarm system upon the premises at (address), whether such claim is brought by the applicant or any third party or entity, and the applicant further agrees to defend any legal action, whether it is based on an allegation jointly or severally, against the City of Mt. Vernon, a municipal corporation, its officers, employees, and alarm monitoring contractor for any action or nonaction on their parts.”
(D) Subscriber Charges. The permit holder shall pay the alarm equipment installer for all equipment charges and connection fees to the monitoring system, and maintenance charges necessitated by the installation, operation, and maintenance of signaling devices in the monitoring system. The company supplying and maintaining the monitoring system shall have the right to charge subscribers or their equipment installer a reasonable fee for connection to, and maintenance of, the system.
(E) Direct Connection Alarms.
(1) Revocation of Permit. The respective Fire Chief or Police Chief may revoke or suspend any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this Section, after giving written notice to the holder and an opportunity for the permit holder to effect compliance within 72 hours, if it is determined that the alarm system under said permit has been installed, maintained, or operated in violation of the provisions of this Section or of any terms or conditions of said permit or in violation of any law.
(2) Right of Inspection. The City of Mt. Vernon shall have the right to inspect any alarm system on the premises where it is intended to be used, both prior to and subsequent to the issuance of a permit, at reasonable times, to determine whether a permit should be granted and whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of the permit and in conformity with the Revised Code of Ordinances of the City of Mt. Vernon, the Statutes of the State of Illinois, and all codes and regulations adopted or issued relating thereto.
(3) No charges shall be made by the City for a routine inspection conducted by the City upon the City’s own initiative. A charge of Ten Dollars ($10.00) each for all other inspections shall be charged, except that each alarm user who has a new alarm system installed shall be entitled to three inspections by the City without charge during the sixty (60) days after the initial installation of the alarm system.
(4) Testing. There shall be no testing or demonstrating alarm systems without first notifying the City of Mt. Vernon, in accordance with procedures established by the city, prior to such test or demonstration, and obtaining permission of the respective Fire Chief or Police Chief or such person delegated by each. Any activation due to a test of demonstration without said notice and permission shall be deemed a false alarm. The respective Fire Chief or Police Chief shall be notified in writing by the alarm installer of the expected completion date of the initial installation, major alteration, or addition of an alarm system prior to completion of said work. All fire alarms shall be tested at least once a month on either the first or third Monday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.; or if the first or third Monday falls on a holiday, then testing shall occur on the first Monday following the holiday.
(5) Maintenance. Each person, firm, or corporation holding a permit for the operation and maintenance of an alarm system shall be responsible to maintain, repair, and keep in good working order the alarm system; and each shall be responsible for any false alarms transmitted by the device which they operate or maintain. The failure to maintain, repair, or keep in good working order the alarm system as required herein shall, subject to the hereinafter provisions for notice and opportunity to be heard, be cause to suspend or revoke any permit issued hereunder and shall be cause for removal of the alarm system. The City of Mt. Vernon shall maintain a record of all false alarms and, subject to the hereinafter provisions for notice and opportunity to be heard, may revoke or suspend any permit for the operation of the alarm system involved in the transmission of two (2) false fire alarms or four (4) false police alarms in any one calendar year.
(6) Charges.
(a) In addition to any other penalty herein provided, the City of Mt. Vernon shall charge a fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per false fire alarm to the owner or occupant of the premises for each automatic alarm transmitted to the City of Mt. Vernon by activation on the premises of an automatic or manual alarm system, in excess of two (2) fire alarms in each calendar year from the said premises, and a fee of Twenty five Dollars ($25.00) for each false police alarm in excess of four (4) in any calendar year.
(b) Charges shall be payable to the City of Mt. Vernon by the user permit holder upon receipt of a statement for such charges. Activation of an alarm by an act of God or by an independent cause not within the control or responsibility of the alarm user shall not constitute a false alarm for purposes of imposition of the charges herein.
(7) No charge shall be imposed for false alarms for sixty (60) days after initial installation of thirty (30) days after major alterations or additions, nor shall false alarms during that period be counted toward the false alarms allowed per calendar year provided written proof satisfactory to the City of such major alterations is submitted to the respective Fire Chief or Police Chief by the permit holder within five (5) days after receiving a billing of charges for the false alarm, provided only one such waiver of charges shall be permitted each calendar year.
(8) Hearings. Every alarm user shall upon written request be entitled to a hearing before the City Manager and Police Chief and Fire Chief, or designated agents of each of said officers, upon receipt of a billing of charges for false alarms or upon receipt of notice of suspension or revocation of any permit. Said hearing must be requested by the alarm user within five (5) days after receiving a billing of charges for the false alarm or after receiving notice of suspension or revocation of the permit. At the hearing, the alarm user will be given the opportunity to present evidence and argument to show that the permit should not be suspended or revoked, or that the alarm activation was not false, or that the alarm activation comes within one of the permissible exceptions or that the permit should not be suspended or revoked.
(9) Liability. The City of Mt. Vernon shall take reasonable precaution to assure that alarm signals received by the City of Mt. Vernon are given appropriate attention and are acted upon with dispatch. However, the City of Mt. Vernon and the alarm contractor shall not be liable for any failure or neglect of any person in connection with the installation and operation of equipment, the transmission of alarm signals, and the relaying of such signals. In the event that the City of Mt. Vernon finds it necessary to disconnect a defective signaling device, the City of Mt. Vernon shall incur no liability by such action.
(10) Automatic Dialer-type Alarms. The procedures and requirements for automatic dialer-type alarms shall be the same as for direct connection alarms, except as herein provided. The City of Mt. Vernon shall provide a distinct and separate trunk line(s) apart from emergency telephone trunk lines for the use of automatic dialer-type alarms, and only those lines may be used to automatically transmit a signal to Central Dispatch. Under no circumstances shall the automatic dialer-type equipment be permitted to automatically connect to the emergency telephone lines. Automatic dialer-type fire alarms shall be subject to the provisions of § 91.10(B)(2).
(11) Local Alarm System. The procedures and requirements for local alarm systems shall be the same as for direct connection alarms, except as hereinafter provided. Every local alarm system installed subsequent to the effective date of this Section shall be constructed, equipped, and installed in such fashion as to be incapable of sounding for more than thirty (30) minutes after a signal activation thereof. A fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) shall be assessed to the owner or occupant of the premises whose local alarm system activates to sound for a period in excess of thirty (30) minutes after the City’s Central Dispatch is notified of said alarm. All single station smoke detectors that are installed in a home, place of business, or other premises shall be exempt from this Section.
(12) Resetting the Alarm. The alarm user shall be solely responsible for resetting the alarm system after activation. If the alarm system is in good working order, the resetting of the alarm system shall occur as soon as the condition giving rise to the alarm, activation permits; or, in the case of a false alarm, the resetting of the alarm system shall occur immediately.
(13) Penalties. Except as otherwise provided, whoever violates any provision of this Section shall be subject to a fine of not less than Five Dollars ($5.00) or more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each offense. Each day that such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
(Prior Code, Art. 9, § 9.12)