(a) The following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Commercial establishment" means a building or buildings in an area used primarily for nonresidential, commercial purposes.
(2) "False alarm" means a call to duty for fire prevention purposes which, upon arriving at the scene, has not been made necessary by the existence of a fire or other emergency condition.
(b) The Chief of the Fire Department or the Director of Public Safety shall provide written notice, by certified mail, to the owner of any commercial establishment upon responding to a false alarm at a commercial establishment and shall, wheresoever possible, identify the source of any malfunction in the commercial security alarm system known to them.
(c) In the event the Fire Department of the City shall be called upon to respond to a subsequent false alarm within thirty days after receipt of notice by certified mail that the Department has previously responded to a false alarm and that a charge for subsequent false alarms may be assessed, there shall be assessed a charge not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00). Such charges, if not paid within sixty days after receipt of written notice of the assessment to the owner, shall be a lien on the property served, shall be forwarded to the Auditor for entry and certification upon the real property tax list and tax duplicate and shall be collected as other taxes.
(d) In the event that the City Fire Department shall be called upon to answer a combined total of more than three false alarms in any calendar year, notwithstanding the fact that no assessment occurs pursuant to subsection (b) hereof, then the City shall be authorized to bill the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each subsequent false alarm from the same commercial alarm system during that year, to defray the costs incurred.
(Ord. 1986-336. Passed 2-12-87.)