Township of East Allen, PA Chapter 56 Alarm Systems

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of East Allen as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I Emergency Fire and Medical Dispatch Alarm Systems

[Adopted 3-22-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-03]

§ 56-1 Current list of alarm system installations.

A. Owners and lessees.

(1) Within 90 days from the effective date of this article, every owner or lessee of an audible or silent alarm that when activated requires fire or ambulance services to respond (hereinafter referred to as "alarm system" or "alarm systems") shall furnish to the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department a current list of such alarm systems which shall include the following information:

(a) The name, residence and telephone number of the resident, owner, or lessee; and

(b) The address where the alarm system is installed and the telephone number of that address; and

(c) The names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least two persons who are authorized to respond to an emergency and gain access to the address where the alarm system is installed; and

(d) The name, address and phone number of the alarm system installer or current repair service vendor for such alarm system.

(2) After the enactment of this article, owners or lessees shall equip audible alarms, other than fire alarms, with a timing mechanism that will disengage the audible alarm after a maximum period of 20 minutes. Audible alarms without such a timing mechanism, other than fire alarms, shall be unlawful in the Township and shall be disconnected by the owner or lessee within 90 days from the effective date of this article.

B. Equipment installers.

(1) Within 90 days from the effective date of this article, every alarm system equipment supplier who has installed an alarm system in the Township shall furnish to the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department a current list of such installations which shall include the following:

(a) The name, address and telephone number of the resident, owner or lessee; and

(b) The address where the alarm system is installed and the telephone number of that address; and

(c) The name, address and telephone number of a central station protective system or any other person or firm who is authorized to respond to an emergency and gain access to the address where the alarm system is installed. Where there is not twenty-four-hour service maintained, there shall be at least two other persons listed.

(2) By the fifth working day of each month following submission of the initial list, every alarm system equipment supplier shall furnish the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department with a supplemental list of any additional alarm system installations along with any corrections to or deletions from the list previously furnished. An alarm system equipment supplier who enters into the business after the effective date of this article shall furnish a list containing the information specified in Subsection, B(1) hereof by the fifth working day of the month following a first installation and shall thereafter furnish the supplemental list as required by this article.

(3) All information furnished pursuant to this article shall be kept confidential and shall be for the use of the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department, the East Allen Township Ambulance Corps and East Allen Township.

§ 56-2 Alarm systems technical information.

Each alarm system equipment supplier who sells or leases an alarm system in the Township after the effective date of this article shall furnish operating instructions, a current diagram and maintenance manual to the buyer or lessee.

§ 56-3 Alarm systems repair service; private vendors.

A. Each alarm system equipment supplier who sells or leases an alarm system in the Township shall make service available directly or through an agent on a twenty-four-hour-per-day basis, seven days a week, to repair such alarm system or to correct any malfunction that may occur. (Such service shall be made available to any person using an alarm system at such user's election and expense.)

B. At the time of installation of an alarm system, the equipment supplier shall furnish to any buyer or lessee using a repair service written information as to how service may be obtained at any time, including the telephone number of the alarm system equipment supplier or agent responsible for service. The buyer or lessee and the alarm system equipment supplier or agent supplying a service shall be responsible for having the alarm system disconnected or repaired as quickly as possible after notice that the alarm system is not functioning properly.

§ 56-4 Registration permit.

A. Any alarm system equipment supplier who sells or leases or maintains or any person who privately installs an alarm system at any site located within the Township shall apply for a registration permit within seven days prior to installation. This application shall be obtained from the Township of East Allen, 5344 Nor-Bath Boulevard, Northampton, Pennsylvania 18067. The application shall be completed and a copy made available upon request or clearly posted at the protected site.

B. The Township shall issue a registration permit for the installation, operation and maintenance of an alarm system to any alarm system equipment supplier or any person who privately installs, leases or maintains an alarm system. The East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department must be satisfied that the registration information is complete and the alarm system in question is capable of being operated in conformance with this article. The permit may be granted subject to any special conditions stated thereon, if this is deemed necessary by the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department. All applications for a permit will be reviewed by the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department.

C. All owners and lessees of existing alarm systems in the Township shall obtain a registration permit. All required information will be provided and any other requirements of this article will be adhered to.

D. A registration permit will automatically terminate upon change in occupancy or usage for the premises for which originally issued.

E. The permit shall indicate that a new permit is required when there is a change in the ownership, as indicated in Subsection D above.

F. Any permit granted hereunder shall be accepted upon the express condition that the registrant shall indemnify and hold the Township harmless from and on account of any and all damages arising out of the activities of the registrant, alarm system contractor or supplier.

§ 56-5 Registration fees.

All alarm system installations, which include installation of a new control panel and sensors, at existing alarm sites shall be registered within seven days prior to installation. All existing alarm system installations shall be registered within 90 days from the effective date of this article. A registration fee of $25 shall be payable at the time of issuance of a permit. A late registration fee of $25 shall be charged to those alarm system equipment suppliers who are found to have installed an alarm system without first applying and receiving a registration permit.

§ 56-6 Violations and penalties.

A. In the event a violation of this article occurs, in addition to such other remedies as may be available under existing law, the Township may institute an action in equity to prevent, restrain, correct, abate or enjoin such violation.

B. Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be subject to the following penalty: a fine of $100, or 30 days' imprisonment, or both. Any person who violates § 56-6C of this article due to nonpayment of a false alarm fine from the Township shall also be subject to payment of the following; legal fees of the Township incurred in prosecution of said case, court costs and administrative costs of the Township incurred in such prosecution in an amount for such administrative costs, not to exceed $500.

[Amended 4-24-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-03]

C. False alarms.

[Amended 4-24-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-03]

(1) Fines. In the event of a second false alarm or inadvertent activation at a site, within any one-hundred-eighty-day period, which one-hundred-eighty-day period shall be calculated from the date of a first false alarm, the owner, operator or lessee of said device shall be charged and must pay a false alarm fine from the Township (which is defined to include the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department and/or East Allen Township Ambulance Corps and/or East Allen Township), which false alarm fine must be paid within seven days of issuance of an invoice for such false alarm fine. This false alarm fine shall be $100 for each occurrence of a second false alarm or inadvertent activation during said one-hundred-eighty-day period. The third false alarm or inadvertent activation within the same one-hundred-eighty-day period will necessitate a false alarm fine of $200. The fourth false alarm or inadvertent activation within this same one-hundred-eighty-day period will necessitate a false alarm fine of $300 and fifth and subsequent false alarms or inadvertent activations, within this same one-hundred-eighty-day period, will necessitate a false alarm fine of $400 for each such occurrence of a false alarm or inadvertent activation during said period.

(2) Terms defined. The terms "false alarm" and inadvertent activation" are both defined to include responses by the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department, and/or the East Allen Township Ambulance Corps and/or East Allen Township, regardless of whether a communication is or is not made requesting cancellation of a response; and a false alarm or inadvertent activation are also defined to mean the activation of a signal from a burglar or fire alarm system which elicits a response from the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department and/or East Allen Township Ambulance Corps and/or East Allen Township when there is in fact no emergency or actual or threatened activity necessitating such a response. This definition includes, without being limited to, any burglar alarm system signal activated as a result of weather, negligence, accident, mechanical failure, electrical failure, electrical surge, signals activated intentionally in nonemergency situations and signals activated where the actual cause of such activation is unknown.

(3) Allocation of fines paid. Any false alarm fine paid and received hereunder shall be split as follows: 25% thereof to East Allen Township and 75% thereof to either the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department or East Allen Township Ambulance Corps, depending on which responded to the false alarm, and if both responded to the false alarm, to be split evenly between the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department and East Allen Township Ambulance Corps.

D. Any penalties payable under this article shall be payable to East Allen Township, except for penalties payable on account of false alarms or inadvertent activations, which shall be payable either to the East Allen Township Volunteer Fire Department or East Allen Township Ambulance Corps, whichever is the responder, and if both respond, to be payable in equal shares to both.