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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-1837 - Ordinance - 01/11/1990ORDINANCE NO.1837 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 4, SECTION 8, SUB-SECTIONS A THROUGH I OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION RELATING TO BUILDING REGULATIONS, ALARM SYSTEMS. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS: That Chapter 4, Section 8, Subsections A through I of the Code of Ordinances of the City of College Station relatlng to building regulations, alarm systems, is hereby amended to read as follows: "SECTION 8: ALARM SYSTEMS A. DEFINITIONS (1) . Alarm Aaent shall mean any individual employed by an alarm business whose duties include altering, installing, maintaining, moving, repairing, replac- ing, selling, servicing, responding to, or monitor- ing an alarm system. It shall also mean any person employed or otherwise associated with an alarm business who has access to confidential information relating to a customer or subscriber of such alarm business which could be used to compromise or de- feat an alarm system. (2) . Alarm Business shall mean any company whose duties include altering, installing, maintaining, moving, repairing, replacing, selling, servicing, respond- ing to, or monitoring an alarm system. (3) . Central Station means any premises, usually main- rained by an alarm company, equipped to receive and displace signals from any type alarms. (4) · Alarm User means any person on whose premises an alarm system is maintained, except for alarm sys- tems on motor vehicles. (5) . Subscriber means any person or business which buys or otherwise obtains an alarm system and has a con- tract with an alarm business to monitor and/or ser- vice the alarm system. (6) . (7). (8) . (9) . (lO). (12). (13). Home Alarm means any alarm device or system which is connected to a residence. Hold-un Alarm means any type of alarm system or de- vice designated to be activated by the Alarm User or Subscriber in the event of a hold-up or robbery. ~ means any alarm or device which automat- ically selects a telephone line connected to the Police Department and reproduces a pre-recorded message to report a criminal intrusion or other emergency requiring a police response. Chief of Police means the Chief of the College Station Police Department or his designated representative. City means the City of College Station, Texas. False Alarm shall mean the activation of an alarm system or device through mechanical failure, mal- function, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner of an alarm system or device or of his employees or agents. Such terminology does not in- clude, for example, alarms caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or other violent conditions. Person means any individual, corporation or organi- zation. Police Department means the Police Department of the City of College Station, Texas. B. ALARM BUSINESS LICENSE No person shall conduct an alarm business in the city of College Station unless they are licensed by the State of Texas under the provisions of the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act. C. RECORDS All alarms within the City of College Station are sub- ject to the City Ordinance regulating alarms whether or not they terminate at the Police Department. Upon the date this ordinance is adopted, no additional alarm ter- minals shall be permitted to be installed at the Police Department. Every subscriber of an alarm system or device within the City of College Station shall have an emergency response card on file with the Chief of Police. The card must contain the names and current telephone numbers of at least three (3) individuals authorized to enter upon the premises and turn off any such alarm. The person must acknowledge in writing that the employees of the Police Department of the City of College Station are authorized to enter any premises where an alarm has been activated, and that they may use reasonable means necessary to gain entry to determine if the alarm is valid or false. The City of College Station shall maintain a record of all responses to activated alarms. Such records shall include the time, date, location of the alarm, any indi- vlduals who responded to the alarm and information indi- cating if activation of the alarm was valid or false. D. OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS The sensory mechanisms used in connection with the alarms shall be adjusted to suppress for all signals so the alarms will not be activated by impulses due to transient pressure surges, electrical power surges or failures, short flashes of light, normal room tempera- ture changes, wind noises, rattling or vibrating doors or windows, vehicular noises or other causes unrelated to genuine signals. E. ALARM SYSTEM STANDARDS (1). Power SuDDlv. Any alarm system which necessitates response by a law enforcement agency or is a public alarm, shall be provided with standby power to automatically maintain the system in a normal condition for a period of four hours in the event of the interrup- tion of the primary power source. This does not apply where the central monitoring equipment pro- duces a distinctive signal indicating power fail- ure at the protected premises and a pollce re- sponse is not required. (2) . The City shall be entitled to inspect any instal- lation for standby power supply function or any other problem during regular business hours. F. MAINTENANC~ (1) . All alarm systems shall be subject to repair or correction no later than the end of the business day following the day on which the User or Alarm Agent receives notification of the need for such service. (2). The Police Chief or his delegate may require in- spections of any alarm to correct any problems. G. AUDIBLE OR LOCAL ALARM CUTOFF Every audible local alarm shall be equipped with an au- tomatic fifteen (15) minute cutoff and reset device, or shall be capable of being silenced manually by the owner or his representative upon his/her arrival at the loca- tion of the alarm. H. FALSE ALARMS (1) . Upon notification by the City of College Station Police Department, the designated Alarm User or Subscriber, or one of the persons listed on the emergency response card shall come to the scene of an alarm activation within thirty (30) minutes of being notified of the alarm activation. Verifica- tion that an alarm is false shall be done by police officers. (2) . An Alarm User or Subscriber shall be allowed 5 false alarms in a preceding 12-month period with- out penalty. After this, a User or Subscriber shall be allowed one false alarm each calendar month without penalty. For each subsequent false alarm that month, he shall be assessed a Thirty Dollar ($30.00) fee. (3) . Any false alarms resulting from a failure to take the necessary corrective action to prevent any such reoccurrence and/or nonpayment of any false alarm penalty may result in the College Station Chief of Police providing a written notice order- ing a disconnection of such alarm until such cor- rective action or payment of fee is made, provided that no disconnection shall be ordered on any premises required by law to have an alarm system in operation. I. NOTICE OF VIOLATION (1) . ResPonsibility of Issuance. The Police Department shall be responsible for notifying the Finance De- partment of the amount of any fees to be col- lected. The Finance Department shall be respon- sible for collecting any fees. (2). Waiver of Imposition. In the event that the Chief of Police determines that the false alarms oc- - - ' t, 04 (3) . curred as a direct result of an interruption of electrical power, a telephone system malfunction, r other causes clearly beyond the control of the owner, the Chief of Police may waive the imposi- tion of the applicable false alarm penalty or ad- ministrative sanction. Hearina from Administrative Decision Finality. Any person subject to the imposition of a fee, or- der of disconnection or other administrative sanc- tion under the terms of this ordinance shall have a right to appeal the decision of the Chief of Police to the City Manager. Requests for a hear- ing must be made in writing filed with the Office of the City Manager within fifteen (15) days of the date of the notice of the administrative deci- sion. Upon receipt of such written request, the City Manager shall schedule a hearing date and inform the owner of the date, time and place of the past false alarms, corrective action taken, and any inspection reports on the cause of false alarms. If the City Manager determines that the false alarms were not caused by the owner, his employees, representatives or agents, and that reasonable steps have been taken to correct the problem, the penalty disconnection order or admin- istrative sanction may be suspended in whole or part. The City Manager shall keep a written re- port of the hearing, including a statement of the reasons for the action taken." II. This section shall be and become effective and be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval by the City Council and duly attested by the Mayor and City Secretary. PASSED, ADOPTED and APPROVED this llth day of January 19 90 - ATTEST: APPROVED: