[HISTORY: Adopted 5-20-1992 by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Topsham, Art. 29, as Ch. 18 of the Topsham Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 124.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish appropriate guidelines for the installation of alarm systems for notification of the Town of Topsham's Police and Fire Departments.
For purposes of this chapter, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined as follows:
ALARM SYSTEM
A system, including any mechanism, equipment or device, designed to automatically transmit a signal, message or warning from a private facility to any of the town's public alarm systems, and shall include telephonic alarm systems designed to operate automatically through the use of public telephone facilities.
NONEMERGENCY ALARMS
Shall include but not be limited to malfunctioning equipment or improperly monitored equipment such as to cause false alarms.
ONE-YEAR PERIOD
For purposes of assessing the penalty fee when the alarm system causes the transmittal of a nonemergency alarm more than three (3) times in a one-year period, "one-year period" shall mean the period from July 1 to the following June 30.
A. 
No person shall operate or maintain an alarm system which automatically transmits a signal, message or warning to the Police or Fire Department without first obtaining a permit.
B. 
Application for a permit to install, maintain or operate an alarm system shall be filed with the Chief of each concerned Department, or his designee, on forms supplied by the town, together with an application fee of fifty dollars ($50.) for residential service. A fee of one hundred dollars ($100.) will be submitted to the Fire Department for nonresidential installations. A fee of fifty dollars ($50.) will be submitted to the Police Department for nonresidential burglar alarm installations. Installations or monitoring will not be permitted until the application has been filed with the Topsham Dispatch Center and paid in full. 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 monitored, as well as a description of the system and the location where it is proposed to be installed. Installers are responsible for submission of said application fee. The permit fee shall be deposited with the Town Treasurer and placed in the general fund.
C. 
The Chief of the concerned Department shall approve such application if he finds that:
(1) 
The use of said alarm to transmit a signal, message or warning to the Topsham Communications Center will not interfere with the orderly conduct of town business.
(2) 
The person installing the system maintains an adequate service organization to repair, maintain or otherwise service alarm systems sold or leased by him. Any leased monitoring company shall be UL listed and meet N.F.P.A. Code 71 standards.
D. 
The Police Chief or Fire Chief may impose other reasonable conditions on the exercise of said permits.
The Chief of the concerned Department 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 by a qualified individual in alarm systems installation, of such system to be made 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 chapter. Information related to any alarm system shall be maintained in a confidential manner, and the release of such information by any member of a concerned Department shall be a violation of this chapter.
No person shall install, operate or maintain a telephonic alarm system which automatically transmits a signal message or warning to the town's Communications Center telephone lines. The telephone number or numbers will be designated by the permit issued under the provisions of this chapter.
The Chief of the concerned Department may revoke any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, after giving written notice to the permit holder and a reasonable opportunity for the permit holder to be heard, if it is determined that the alarm system installed pursuant to said permit has been installed, maintained or operated in violation of the provisions of this chapter or of any term or condition of said permit or for failure to pay any fee specified in § 66-8.
The three (3) following conditions, as outlined in N.F.P.A. 74, pertaining to household fire warning equipment, should be considered by the installer when installing an alarm system under the provisions of this chapter:
A. 
Any residential construction in units with one (1) bedroom on one (1) floor will require a smoke detector to be located in any hall adjacent to bedroom or sleeping quarters and one (1) in any basement or cellar. Detectors will be wired together so one (1) detector, when activated, will sound the other. The detectors will be hard wire 120V AC.
B. 
In units with more than one (1) sleeping area, smoke detectors will be installed to protect each bedroom and one (1) in the basement or cellar. Detectors will be wired together so one (1) detector, when activated, will sound the other. The detectors will be hard wire 120V AC.
C. 
In units two (2) stories above ground level, detectors will be located in sleeping areas or adjacent hallways on the ground floor and in the cellar or basement. Detectors will be wired together so one (1) detector, when activated, will sound the other. The detectors will be hard wire 120V AC.
A. 
Any permit holder whose system causes the transmittal of a nonemergency alarm more than three (3) times per year shall pay a fee fifty dollars ($50.) in the case of the Police Department or in the case of the Fire Department, two hundred dollars ($200.) for each instance of nonemergency alarm in excess of three (3) such alarms in a one-year period. Whenever the Topsham Emergency Medical Rescue Unit is also required to respond to emergency alarms in conjunction with the Fire Department, the fee shall be sixty-five dollars ($65.) in addition to the Fire Department fee.
B. 
The appropriate fee provided in Subsection A of this chapter will be assessed after the third nonemergency alarm, and any fee assessed under this section shall be independent of, and in addition to, any penalties for other violations of this chapter provided for under § 66-9. This fee will be deposited in each respective Department's budget line account, from which the cost of responding to the nonemergency alarm was paid.
C. 
Public buildings owned and operated by the state, county, municipality or special district shall be exempt from the penalty provisions of this chapter effective July 1, 1993.
Whoever violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction therefor, be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.).
The invalidity of any provision of this chapter shall not affect the validity of any other provision.
The effective date shall be July 1, 1992.