[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Upper Pottsgrove as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Reimbursement for emergency services — See Ch. 168.
[Adopted 6-18-2007 by Ord. No. 407]
The following definitions shall apply in the
interpretation and enforcement of this article.
Any signal activated by an automatic protection device, any
audible alarm or any other kind of direct or indirect signal given
to which the fire company and/or department or emergency response
agencies respond which is not the result of an attempted fire, or
medical or other similar emergency, excluding weather extremes and
utility interruptions which activate a protection device.
Includes the Upper Pottsgrove Township fire company, known
as "Upper Pottsgrove Township Fire Company No. 1" and any other emergency
rescue response agency situate within the Township of Upper Pottsgrove
(i.e., ambulance, fire and rescue).
It shall be unlawful for the property owner,
lessee or any person occupying or otherwise on any premises within
the Township of Upper Pottsgrove to make or cause to be made a false
fire alarm, directly or indirectly, to any fire company or other emergency
response agency responding to alarms within the Township of Upper
Pottsgrove, when the false fire alarm is caused by faulty detection
of alarm equipment or by the negligence of said property owner, lessee
or person.
A.
The status of an alarm is to be determined by the
Chief of the Upper Pottsgrove Township Fire Company or other affected
emergency response agency. Any person who disagrees with such determination
shall have a right to appeal that determination to the Upper Pottsgrove
Fire Service Committee within 15 days. The decision of the Fire Committee
shall be final.
B.
Within 15 days of receipt by the Secretary of Upper
Pottsgrove Township of a report of a false fire alarm by the Upper
Pottsgrove Township Fire Company and/or the emergency response agency,
the Township will forward a notice of the false fire alarm to the
record title owner or lessee of the property where the false fire
alarm where occurred and advise said property owner or lessee of the
obligations of the owner or lessee to correct the alarm system and
the possible penalties that could result from multiple false fire
alarms as hereinafter set forth. A copy of this article shall constitute
sufficient notice to a property owner or lessee that fines and penalties,
as set forth hereinafter, will be imposed as well as be sufficient
to inform the property owner or lessee of his, her or their responsibility
to correct the alarm system.
C.
Upon notification of a false fire alarm, a written
report shall be made within 14 days by the owner or lessee to the
affected emergency response agency and shall contain what steps have
been taken to eliminate future false fire alarms.
D.
Service fees for false fire alarms shall be assessed
by the Township of Upper Pottsgrove as follows:
(1)
There shall be no service fee for the first two false
fire alarms in any one calendar year. Thereafter, the service fees
for the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and subsequent false fire alarms
shall be established by resolution of the Board of Commissioners from
time to time.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current fees are on file
in the Township offices.
(2)
The false fire alarm service fees shall be paid to
the Township within 30 days of mailing of the notice of the false
fire alarm service fee. Failure to pay the amount due within 30 days
will result in a penalty of 10% and interest being collected at a
rate of 6% per annum until collection. The Township shall, by resolution
of the Board of Commissioners, from time to time, designate the fund
which shall receive the fire service fees.
A.
In the event that a violation of this article occurs,
in addition to such other remedies as may be available under existing
law, the Township of Upper Pottsgrove may institute an action in equity
to prevent, restrain, correct, abate or enjoin such violation.
B.
Any person, whether as principal or agent, who violates
this article or assists or abets its violation shall, upon conviction
thereof before any Magistrate, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less
than $50 nor more than $600, together with the costs of prosecution,
and in default of the payment of said fine and costs shall be committed
to the Montgomery County Prison for a period not exceeding 30 days.
Each violation shall constitute a separate offense, for which a summary
conviction may be sought.
[Adopted 3-21-2016 by Ord. No. 484]
For the purposes of this article the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this section, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
Any assembly or equipment — mechanical, electrical,
or battery-operated — arranged to signal any emergency services
dispatch of the occurrence of a fire emergency, police emergency,
or hazard emergency requiring urgent attention.
The record owner of any improved real estate within Upper
Pottsgrove Township.
A building, structure, or facility that is not a residential
building.
Any emergency medical unit dispatched to respond to a fire
emergency, police emergency, or hazard emergency in Upper Pottsgrove
Township, including but not limited to the Fire Department and Police
Department.
An alarm activated willfully, or by inadvertence, negligence,
or unintentional act, and in the absence of the need for emergency
services, to which emergency services in fact respond.
The Upper Pottsgrove Township Fire Department, its successors,
and its designated backup units.
Fire, smoke, or heat condition, or an activation of an automatic
extinguishing system due to fire or heat condition indicating a fire.
An explosion or leak of a toxic gas, liquid, or solid, or
a potential explosion or leak of a toxic gas, liquid, or solid, or
an electrical or other utility leak, short, or interruption of any
nature that may cause a hazard to the public.
A high-security key box system manufactured by the Knox Company
of Irvine, California, designed to give emergency services access
to locked buildings and other secured areas.
A Knox-Box® or other lock box of similar quality and
design which meets or exceeds the specifications of the Knox-Box®
3200 series.
The Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Department, its successors,
and its designated backup units and/or departments.
Any activation of an alarm system, automatic, manual, or
by any other means, that would generate a request for immediate police
response.
Detached one-family and two-family dwellings and multiple
single-family dwellings which are not more than three stories in height
with a separate means of egress, and includes accessory structures.
A.
Building owners shall register with the Township all alarm systems
located within the Township. All alarm systems subject hereto within
the Township and active as of the effective date of this article shall
be registered with the Township within 60 days thereof. All alarm
systems subject hereto and installed or, if previously installed,
activated after the effective date of this article shall be registered
with the Township within 21 days of installation or activation, as
applicable.
B.
There shall be no fee for any registration occurring within the applicable
time period. Late registrations shall require a fee as set from time
to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of Upper Pottsgrove
Township.
C.
Registration shall require all of the following:
(1)
Name and street address of the owner, lessee, or occupant of any
building containing an alarm system.
(2)
Name, address, and telephone number of an adult nonresident able
to respond to the premises within 30 minutes in the event of an emergency
and who has the authority and ability to enter the premises.
(3)
An acknowledgment by the registrant that, in the event of an alarm,
emergency services may forcibly enter the premises if warranted, as
determined by the officer in charge, and that there shall be no liability
for damages or injuries resulting from the response to the alarm,
forcible entry, and search of the premises.
Any location with an alarm system shall have its street number
clearly posted so that the same will be visible at night from the
street.
After the effective date of this article, building owners shall
be required to install a lock box, the number and location of which
shall be prescribed by the Township or its designee, when:
A.
Any Commercial Building connected to an alarm system which experiences
two false alarms within 12 consecutive months.
B.
An alarm system is installed in any Commercial Building. A certificate
of occupancy shall not be issued until said lock box is installed
and placed into service.
C.
Any Commercial Building undergoes a change in the use-occupancy.
D.
Hazardous materials capable of producing a hazardous emergency are
handled, used, or stored within any Commercial Building.
A.
The building owner of any structure subject to this article is required
at all times to keep a key in the lock box that will allow access
to the structure. The lock box shall contain the following:
(1)
Keys to locked points of egress, whether in the interior or exterior
of such buildings;
(2)
Keys to locked mechanical rooms;
(3)
Keys to locked elevator rooms and controls;
(4)
Keys to any fence or secured areas;
(5)
Keys to any other area that may be required by the Township or its
designee after written notice;
(6)
A card containing the emergency contact persons and phone numbers
for such building;
(7)
Keys to areas of the building where alarm system panels and fire-protection
systems are located;
(8)
An inventory of the keys posted inside the lock box; and
(9)
If hazardous materials are handled, used, or stored within any building
or structure on the subject property, the emergency services material
safety data sheets (MSDS) or hazardous chemical inventory forms under
the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA Title
III).
B.
With respect to Commercial Buildings, in lieu of having the interior
keys in an exterior lock box, a second interior lock box may be located
within the main lobby of the building to hold the interior keys.
Any building owner subject to this article shall immediately
notify the Township or its designee when any lock relevant hereto
is changed or rekeyed and provide the Township or its designee a new
key. The new key shall be secured in the lock box.
A.
Any building owner subject to this article shall ensure that emergency
services have completely unobstructed access to the lock box at all
times.
B.
The building owner subject to this article, or a designated agent,
shall be present whenever emergency services access any lock box except
when emergency services have responded to a fire emergency, police
emergency, or hazard emergency at the building.
C.
Emergency services shall maintain a written record of when any lock
box is accessed and when any keys are removed or used for entry, including
the name of the individual removing the key or keys, as well as the
time and date of the access, and the reason for such removal of the
key or keys.
The Township or its designee may establish uniform rules and
regulations governing all buildings subject to this article with regard
to the type, location, installation, use, maintenance, and replacement
of any lock boxes within the Township.
A.
Any building owner subject of this article that is found to be in
violation of the requirements herein shall be subject to the fines
mentioned in this section.
B.
Any building owner subject to this article who shall violate any
section herein shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding, be
punishable by a fine of not less than $50 or more than $1,000 together
with the costs of prosecution or to imprisonment for a period of 90
days, or both. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues,
or is permitted to continue, shall constitute a separate offense.
This article shall be enforced by action brought before a Magisterial
District Court in the same manner provided for the enforcement of
summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.
C.
Fines and costs imposed under the provisions of this article shall
be payable to Upper Pottsgrove Township.
The rights and remedies of the Township as prescribed by the
article or otherwise by law with respect to lock boxes, and the criminal
sanctions herein provided, shall be cumulative, and the pursuit of
one shall in no way preclude simultaneous or subsequent pursuit of
another.
