False alarms shall not be given, signaled, transmitted, caused,
or permitted to be given, signaled, or transmitted in any manner.
(a)
The owner and any person in possession of any building shall be assessed
a fee to be set by resolution whenever the fire department is required
to respond to more than two false alarms during a one-year period
consisting of January 1 – December 31 of any given year. Continued
false alarms generated from the same location within the same one-year
period shall also be assessed a fee set by resolution for each successive
false alarm.
(b)
Notwithstanding subsection (a), whenever the fire department is required to respond to a false alarm while the system is being repaired or otherwise modified, and the person performing the work has failed to notify the fire department in advance that such work was being done, the persons performing the work shall also be assessed a fee set by resolution for each such occurrence.
(c)
For purposes of this section, "false alarm" shall mean
the activation of any local or central station alarm because of malfunction,
including, but not limited to, mechanical or electrical defects, water
surges, or because of improper installation, operation testing or
maintenance of such system. Whenever the fire department responds
to the location of a false alarm and finds that there is no evidence
of a fire or of external causes beyond the control of the owner or
person in possession that may have caused the alarm, the activation
shall be presumed to be a false alarm. Not included as a false alarm
will be those activations caused by earthquakes or other phenomena
beyond the control of the owner or person in possession.
(d)
Whenever an owner, person in possession, or alarm system worker is
notified of such assessment and believes that he or she should be
excused from paying because any occurrences did not constitute a false
alarm, as defined above, he or she shall have the right to appeal
said assessment to the fire chief within ten calendar days of his
or her receipt of the notice of assessment. The fire chief is authorized
to excuse the assessment if he or she determines that a false alarm,
as defined, did not occur.
(e)
Any person, firm, or corporation who receives notification of penalties
due and fails to pay such penalties within the specified amount of
time, no less than thirty days, a ten percent per month late fee will
be assessed until penalties have been paid.
(Ord. 1592 § 2, 2022)