[R.O. 2009 §18-1; Ord. No. 3010 §1, 5-15-1989; Ord. No. 3015 §1, 6-19-1989]
A. 
False Alarm Defined. "False alarm" shall be any emergency alarm intentionally, negligently, inadvertently or unintentionally activated to which a City emergency vehicle or member of the Police or Fire Department responds, including alarms activated by the malfunction of the alarm equipment, wherein an emergency situation does not exist, with the exception of alarms resulting from one (1) of the following causes:
1. 
Malfunction of the indicator or equipment in the Police or Fire Department;
2. 
Testing or repair of telephone equipment or lines;
3. 
An act of God, such as earthquakes, floods, windstorms, thunder or lightning;
4. 
Attempted illegal entry, of which there is visible evidence;
5. 
Fire causing structural damage to the protected premises, verified by the Fire Chief.
In determining the existence and cause of false alarms, a decision shall be made in favor of the owners or operators of and parties responsible for the alarm system if reasonable doubt exists as to the cause of the alarm. Such decision shall be made by the City Clerk/Administrator after consultation with the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief.
B. 
Response Costs. The owners and operators of and parties responsible for an emergency alarm system shall be jointly and severally responsible to the City for the costs of the City's response for each false alarm transmitted by such system in excess of one (1) during any one (1) year period. Such response costs shall be ten dollars ($10.00) for the second (2nd) false alarm during such one (1) year period and twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for the third (3rd) and each successive false alarm during such one (1) year period. If the City Clerk/Administrator is satisfied that the alarm in question is at least the second (2nd) such occurrence in a one (1) year period, then the City Clerk/Administrator shall bill the alarm owners, operators and responsible parties for the response costs, which shall be due and payable within thirty (30) days of the date of the bill from the City Clerk/Administrator. The Police or Fire Chief may waive payment for the response costs for good cause.
C. 
Violation — Penalty. Any owner, operator or responsible party who shall fail to pay any false alarm response cost when due is deemed guilty of an ordinance violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both such fine and imprisonment. Any person who shall intentionally cause a false fire or Police alarm is deemed guilty of an ordinance violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
D. 
Defense. It shall be a defense to any charge under this Section that a person intentionally triggered an emergency alarm while acting under a sincere belief that a need existed to summon the Police or Fire Department. Such defense shall be affirmative in nature and must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence.
E. 
Definitions. The terms "owner", "operator" and "responsible party" with regard to an emergency alarm system shall include, without limitation, owners, lessees or residents of a residential property; with regard to other than residential property, shall include owners, lessees, supervisory employees and managers. If an owner or lessee of any residential or non-residential property is a partnership, corporation or unincorporated association, then all partners of any such partnership, all officers or statutory trustees of any such corporations and all members of any such unincorporated associations shall be deemed to be owners, operators or responsible parties of such emergency alarm.
Ownership of a property, for purposes of this Section, shall be as shown on any of the City's records or as shown by any current telephone directory.
F. 
Direct Dialing Alarm Systems Prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to install or operate any emergency alarm system which terminates within the Police or Fire Department by way of any direct dialing device. Any person violating this Section shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
G. 
Audible Alarms. No person shall install or use an audible burglar or fire alarm which is equipped with an exterior sound-producing device, such as a gong, buzzer, siren, bell or horn, unless the same shall be equipped with a fifteen (15) minute timer to limit the duration of the audible alarm.