Town Of Bridgton, Maine Snow Plowing Notice

TOWN OF BRIDGTON

ALARM SYSTEMS ORDINANCE

Enacted: 1987. Revised: March 1, 1994

ARTICLE I. TITLE, PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS

Section 101. TITLE

This ordinance shall be known and be cited as the "Alarm Systems Ordinance for the Town of Bridgton, Maine."

Section 102. PURPOSE

The purpose of this ordinance is to establish appropriate guidelines for the installation of alarm systems for notification of the Town of Bridgton's Public Safety Communications Center.

Section 103. DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined as follows:

103.1 - Alarm Systems: A system including any mechanism, equipment or device designed to automatically transmit or cause the transmission of a signal, message or warning from a private facility (i.e., residential or commercial) to any of the Town's public alarm systems or to the Communications Center, or to cause the activation of an audible device whose purpose or result is to obtain emergency response by the Town's police or fire department.

103.2 - Permanently Connected Alarm System: An alarm system which transmits a signal to the Communications Center or other location by means of a wire, cable connection, or radio equipment which is used only or primarily for that purpose.

103.3 - Telephonic Alarm System or "Dialer": An alarm system which operates automatically through the use of public telephone facilities to connect to a telephone within the Communications Center or other location.

103.4 - Audible Alarm System: An alarm system which causes an audible signal to sound at or near the alarm premises, for the purpose of obtaining emergency responses by the Town's police or fire department.

103.5 - Non-Emergency Alarms: Signals transmitted by an alarm system as a result of human error or equipment malfunction.

103.6 - Resident Alarms: Those alarms located within the boundaries of the Town of Bridgton.

103.7 - Non-Resident Alarms: Those alarms located outside the boundaries of the Town of Bridgton.

Section 104. MONITORING AND HOOK UP FEES

For an annual fee alarms may be monitored by the Town's Communications Center and the direct hook up fee will be One Hundred and Fifty dollars ($150.00) for residents and One Hundred and Seventy Five dollars ($175.00) for non-residents. An annual fee of One Hundred Twenty Five dollars ($125.00) will be charged for Medical Alert Alarms. This will be the ongoing fee to be paid on July 1st of each year. Failure to pay within a thirty (30) day period will result in termination of this service. All maintenance and hook up charges will be the responsibility of the subscriber. The receiving device will be provided and maintained by the Town of Bridgton. The fees associated with this Ordinance may be adjusted by the Municipal Officers from time to time as circumstances require.

Section 105. The Chief of Police shall approve such application if he finds that said alarm system will not interfere with the orderly conduct of Town business; and that the person installing the system maintains an adequate service organization to repair, maintain or otherwise service alarm systems sold, leased or installed by him.

105.1 The Chief of Police may impose other reasonable conditions on the exercise of said permits and shall retain authority to decide the reasonableness of any other conditions.

105.2 The Chief of Police, or his designee, shall have the sole right to inspect, or cause to be inspected by the system installer, any alarm system on premises where it is intended to function prior to issuance of any permit for operation of such system, and he may inspect or cause an inspection, by the system installer or individual qualified in alarm system installation, of such system at any time after the issuance of a permit to determine whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of the permit and the provisions of this Ordinance.

105.3 No person will install, operate or maintain a telephonic alarm system which automatically transmits or causes transmission of a signal, message or warning to the Town's Communications Center telephone lines, except to such telephone number or numbers as designated by the permit issued under the provisions of this Ordinance. The Chief of Police may refuse to issue a permit for such a system if in his opinion the existing telephone capacity of the Communications Center is not sufficient to accommodate the new system. No more than six such permits will be issued for each available incoming telephone line at the Communications Center or other reception point. Furthermore, no such system shall be designed or adjusted to make more than two (2) calls per incident to the Communications Center.

105.4 The Chief of Police may revoke any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this Ordinance, after giving written notice to the permit holder and an opportunity for the permit holder to be heard, if he

determines that the alarm system installed pursuant to said permit has been installed, maintained or operated in violation of the provisions of this Ordinance, or of any term or condition of said permit, or for failure to pay any fee specified in this Ordinance.

ARTICLE II - PERMITS

Section 201. PERMITS

No person shall operate or maintain an alarm system as defined in Article I without first obtaining a permit.

Section 202. The Chief of Police shall be authorized to institute such guidelines as he deems desirable for determining the installation procedures for alarm systems.

Section 203. Applications for permits to install, maintain or operate an alarm system shall be filed with the Chief of Police or his designee, on forms supplied by the Town. Said application shall set forth the name, address and telephone number of both the installer of the system and the person or business on whose premises the system will be installed, as well as a description of the system and the location where it is proposed to be installed. The application shall also set forth the name, address and telephone number of at least three individuals who have keys or access to the premises and/or alarm equipment. Permits shall be renewed annually on the same form as is used for the original application, and the person applying for renewal shall indicate thereon any changes in the information already supplied.

203.1 The application fee for a permanently connected alarm system shall be Twenty-Five dollars ($25.00) and the renewal fee for such permit shall be Fifteen dollars ($15.00) per year, renewable on July 1st of each year.

203.2 The application fee for a telephonic alarm system permit shall be Twenty Five dollars ($25.00), and the renewal fee for such permit shall be Fifteen dollars ($15.00) per year, renewable on July 1st of each year.

203.3 The application fee for an audible alarm system shall be Twenty Five dollars ($25.00) and the renewal fee for such permit shall be Fifteen dollars ($15.00) per year, renewable on July 1st of each year.

ARTICLE III

Section 301. TRANSMISSION OF NON-EMERGENCY ALARMS

Any permit holder whose system causes the transmission of a non- emergency alarm more than three (3) times in any one calendar year period shall pay a fine as described in Article IV Section 401 for each instance of a non-

emergency alarm in excess of three (3) such alarms in any one calendar year period.

301.1 Any permit holder whose system causes the transmission of two or more non-emergency alarms within a twenty-four hour period shall, upon request, immediately disconnect the system, and shall not reconnect it until it has been inspected in accordance with Section 105.2 of this Ordinance.

301.2 If after reasonable effort the Town is unable to locate and notify the permit holder or installer of a system which has transmitted two or more non-emergency alarms within a twenty-four hour period, the Town shall have the right to disconnect the system from the Communications Center without prior notice to the permit holder. The Town shall make a reasonable effort to notify the permit holder by registered mail of any action taken under this Section.

301.3 Upon receipt of an alarm message or signal from an alarm system for which a permit has been issued under this Ordinance, and subject to the availability of manpower and equipment, the Town will dispatch representatives of the Department of Public Safety to the alarm location to take appropriate action. If the premises in which the alarm system is installed appear to be secure and there is no evidence to indicate that there is an emergency situation requiring the presence or action of the Department of Public Safety, the Town's obligation to the permit holder shall have been discharged upon the completion of one telephone call to the permit holder, the system installer, or any of the individuals named on the permit application as required in Section 203 of this Ordinance. Non-resident alarms message or signal received will be given to the appropriate authority governing that jurisdiction. Notification will be given to the non- resident subscriber by the Town's Communication personnel.

ARTICLE IV - FINES & PENALTIES

Section 401. FINES

Burglary Alarms $50.00

Fire Alarms 100.00

Section 402 PENALTY

Whomever violates any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall, upon conviction therefore, be punished by a fine of not more that one hundred dollars ($100.00).