[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Moosic 9-13-2022 by Ord. No. 7-2022.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 72,
Alarms, adopted 11-10-2020 by Ord. No. 19-2020, which repealed former
Ch. 72, Alarms, adopted 8-14-2003 by Ord. No. 14-2003.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any other property other than a residence.
Any emergency alarm which is activated by inadvertence, negligence,
or an intentional or unintentional act to which the Borough of Moosic
Police, Fire, or EMS respond. This includes alarms caused by malfunction
of the alarm system and testing of alarms without proper notification
of the proper emergency service organization.
A single-family dwelling, a duplex, or a two-family dwelling.
A.Â
Graduated fee: residence. Should any fire alarm, medical alarm system,
burglar alarm system or any other emergency alarm system cause multiple
false alarms to occur during a twenty-four-month period, then a graduated
service charge shall be levied against the owner or lessee of the
said system in accordance with the following schedule during the said
twenty-four-month period, beginning January 1, 2021, and running every
calendar year thereafter:
B.Â
Graduated fee: commercial property. Should any fire alarm, medical
alarm system, burglar alarm system or any other emergency alarm system
cause multiple false alarms to occur during a twenty-four-month period,
then a graduated service charge shall be levied against the owner
or lessee of the said system in accordance with the following schedule
during the said twenty-four-month period, beginning January 1, 2021
and running every calendar year thereafter:
Alarms caused by an act of God, such as earthquakes, flood,
windstorm, thunder or lightning shall be exempt from this chapter.
The responding agency (Police, Fire, EMS) ranking official will act
as the determining factor as to the classification of the alarm being
considered false or in violation of this chapter.
It shall be illegal to discontinue any alarm system currently
in operation to circumvent any or all parts of this chapter.
All new alarm or revised systems of any type installed in the
Municipality of Moosic shall be designed and installed as to current
applicable codes (residential and commercial) for installation of
the particular type of alarm system. All new or revised alarms must
be inspected and registered into the Lackawanna County Communications
Center CAD system by the appropriate emergency service authority (Police,
Fire, EMS) responsible for the type of alarm system.
The Greenwood Hose Company will be responsible for keeping records
on each activation for fire and EMS, and Moosic Police Department
will maintain records for burglar alarms, and upon any one property
reaching a level of the graduated fee schedule, the Hose Company and/or
Police Department will notify the Borough Code Officer. The Borough
Code Officer will be advised as to the number of alarm activations
that have occurred and the fee which should be billed to the owner
of the property.
The responsible party will be promptly billed within 10 days,
and payment will be considered current if received in a thirty-day
period from the date of billing. Any billing open and not paid within
these limits shall be considered past due and turned over to the Moosic
Police Department or the Code Enforcement Officer for issuance of
a citation in violation of this chapter which will allow for collection
of the chapter amounts and court costs associated with the violation.
Moosic Borough will maintain a listing of all commercial properties
that have fire alarm/suppression systems. All commercial facilities
having such an alarm system will be required annually to have the
system maintained and serviced by a qualified alarm installation company
to ensure proper operation. An inspection report from the qualified
company must be provided to Moosic Borough 715 Main St Moosic, PA
18507 prior to April 1 of each calendar year.
All facilities are required to maintain a current list of at
least a minimum of four employees that can accept an after business
hours call from emergency personnel to be immediately available to
respond to the facility in question to deal with an alarm condition.
This same list must be provided to the Greenwood Hose Co. No. 1 3727-41
Birney Ave Moosic, PA 18507 for entry into the Lackawanna County 911
Center database. Any changes to this listing must also be provided
within 10 days of the change to the same.
A.Â
Penalties. Any person, organization and/or company violating § 72-8 and § 72-9 of this chapter shall be subject to summary enforcement proceedings and, upon being found guilty thereof shall subject the violator to a fine of $1,000 for a third offense. Upon default in payment of a fine and upon a guilty finding of a third or subsequent offense, the violator may be subject to a term of imprisonment up to the maximum allowed by law for a summary offense. Each day that a violation continues or each section of this chapter that is found to be violated shall be considered a separate violation.
B.Â
All offenders convicted of violating this chapter shall also pay
the costs of prosecution and the Borough's attorney fees.
C.Â
Any person guilty of a violation of the within chapter may also be
subject to civil proceedings for damages and/or injunctive relief
by the property owner and any entity injured or damaged by such violation.
All ordinance and parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith
are hereby repealed. All parts of the original ordinance are hereby
replaced and revised.
