[HISTORY: Adopted as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted as Ch. XIII of the Town Bylaws]
A.
No person or corporation shall install or maintain any type of a
private fire or burglar alarm system which is connected to the municipal
fire or police system, or is designed to automatically call any municipal
telephone, or is designed to signal the Police or Fire Department
by any means whatsoever, without a permit in writing from the Fire
Chief or Police Chief allowing the installation and continued maintenance
of the system.
B.
Fees. A permit fee for installation of such system and an annual
maintenance fee shall be assessed, which fees shall be established
annually by the Select Board.
[Added 4-9-2002 STM, Art. 3; amended 5-22-2021 ATM by Art. 1]
Before granting any such permit the Chief of the Department
involved may require the submission of such detailed plans, specifications
and other technical data as may be necessary to determine the nature
and extent of the proposed installation and its compatibility with
the existing municipal systems and services. If the system is designed
to automatically call the telephone of the Department involved the
Chief of said Department may require the system to be connected to
a separate telephone, the cost of which shall be paid proportionately
by the persons connected to said special telephone. Any increased
operating costs or connection costs shall also be paid by the applicant.
In the case of a continuing obligation for operating costs the permit
may be revoked for failure to pay the same.
[Amended 4-9-2002 STM, Art. 3]
In addition to the fines and provisions of Article II, False Alarms, of this Chapter 203, Alarm Systems, the Chief of the Department issuing the permit may revoke the permit if the installation is a continuing cause of false alarms and the owner after notice from the Department fails to correct the cause. The notice of revocation, for this or other reasons, shall be mailed by certified mail, postage prepaid, to the owner of the system as his name appears on Department records. The notice shall state the cause of revocation and the effective date of the same which shall be not less than seven days after the date of the notice.
[Amended 4-11-1995 ATM, Art. 26]
Whoever violates any provisions of this bylaw shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $20 for each offense. Whoever violates any provision of this bylaw may, in the discretion of the enforcing officer, be penalized by a noncriminal complaint pursuant to the provisions of MGL c. 40, § 21D, and the Town's Noncriminal Disposition Bylaw (Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, Penalties; Noncriminal Disposition). For the purpose of this provision, the penalty to apply in the event of a violation shall be $20. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[Adopted 4-9-2002 STM, Art. 3]
For the purpose of this bylaw, the following words and phrases
shall have the following meanings:
Any assembly of equipment and/or devices that are designed
to be activated either manually or automatically for the purpose of
drawing attention to the presence of a hazard or situation, criminal
or otherwise, to which the Police or Fire Department is expected to
respond.
Any person or business on whose premises an alarm system
is installed and maintained within the Town of Hopedale, except for
alarm systems that are installed in or on motor vehicles.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation or negligence of the user of the
alarm system or his/her employees or agents.
Any signal or communication transmitted to the Police Department
requesting, requiring or resulting in a response from the Police Department
when, in fact, there has been no unauthorized entry or intrusion into
the premises and there has been no attempted robbery or burglary at
the premises. Excluded from this definition shall be the activation
of an alarm system by power outages, utility companies or other outside
sources, hurricanes, severe storms and similar conditions.
Any signal or communication transmitted to the Hopedale Public
Safety Dispatch Center requesting, requiring or resulting in response
from the Fire Department when, in fact, there has been no fire. Excluded
from this definition shall be the activation of an alarm system by
power outages, utility companies or other outside sources, hurricanes,
severe storms and similar conditions.
All alarm systems that emit an audible signal on the exterior
of a building shall be equipped with a device for limiting the length
of the audible signal to 10 minutes. Any user of an alarm system that
either does not have such a device or has a malfunction that allows
the audible signal to continue for more than 10 minutes shall, after
the Police or Fire Department has recorded two separate violations,
be assessed for the third and subsequent violations a fee of $50.
Failure to pay such fee within the prescribed time will result in
court action for violation of a Town bylaw until the fee is paid.
All federal, state and municipal buildings and property shall
be exempt from the provisions of this bylaw.
