(A) A nuisance fire alarm or the activation of an alarm for the purpose of summoning the Fire Department; or which causes the Fire Department to be summoned at a time wen no fire or emergency exists on the premises, may be caused by:
(1) Error or mistake. Any action by an person, firm or corporation, or other entity or agency thereof, owning or operation any dwelling, building or place, which result in the activation of any alarm system when no emergency exists.
(2) Malfunction. Any activation of any alarm system caused by a flaw in the normal operation, design, installation, maintenance of the system, by faulty equipment or by a change in the environment or premises upon or within which the alarm system is operating.
(3) Intentional misuse. Any intentional activation of an alarm system when no fire or other emergency is in progress.
(B) There shall be no civil penalty imposed upon the responsible party or alarm subscriber for a single error, mistake or unintentional alarm caused by:
(1) Natural or man-made catastrophe or an act of God. Such events include tornadoes, floods, earthquakes or other similarly violent conditions.
(2) Being a victim of vandalism causing physical damage to the premises.
(3) Telephone line outage.
(4) Being a victim of attempted entry of a location causing visible, physical or other evidence of damage to the location.
(5) Severe weather causing physical damage to premises.
(6) The testing of a local/audible alarm system by a licensed alarm business agent or employee who is present at the premises servicing, repairing or installing the alarm when such testing does not result in the alarm being activated for an uninterrupted period exceeding 60 seconds.
(7) Unauthorized entry by another.
(C) (1) There shall be a civil penalty imposed upon the alarm subscriber, responsible party or alarm subscriber in accordance with the town’s fee schedule for an repeated or continual alarm malfunction.
(2) All audible alarms must be reset and cease to sound after 15 minutes of continuous activation. An alarm that sounds continuously in excess of 15 minutes from the time the fire department arrives at the alarm location shall constitute a violation every 60-minute period following the initial 15 minutes during which the alarm continues to sound shall constitute a civil penalty for each 60-minute period of continuous operation of an alarm.
(D) There shall be a civil penalty imposed upon the responsible party for an intentional misuse of an alarm or by any of the following acts:
(1) Causing vandalism and physical damage to the premises.
(2) Attempting entry of a location causing a visible, physical or other evidence of damage to the location.
(3) Knowingly and willfully activating an alarm when there is no emergency.
(Ord. 10-11, passed 7-6-2010)