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Home My WebLink About6.d. Alarm Ordinance EXECUTIVE SUMMARY City Council Regular Meeting: November 17, 2015 AGENDA ITEM: Alarm Ordinance AGENDA SECTION: Consent PREPARED BY: Mitchell Scott, Chief of Police AGENDA NO. 6.d. ATTACHMENTS: Alarm Ordinance, Resolution Approving Summary Publication of Ordinance APPROVED BY: ddj RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1. Motion to approve Ordinance 2015-09 – An Ordinance Regulating False Alarms. 2. Motion to approve A Resolution Approving Summary Publication of Ordinance 2015 –90 Relating to Alarms ISSUE Currently the alarm ordinance criminalizes false alarms if the resident or business fails to comply with the ordinance. Residents and business owners may apply for a permit; however every residence and business currently has their own yearly calendar with regards to false alarms. This makes it very difficult to manage. BACKGROUND Our current alarm ordinance requires residents or business owners to purchase a permit after they have had four (4) false alarms in a twelve (12) month period. The resident or business owner may purchase an alarm user permit which allows for three (3) additional false alarms for a period of twelve (12) months. If the resident or business owner fails to purchase a permit and if a they have future false alarms under the current city ordinance the resident or business owner will be issued a citation for the violation and every false alarm thereafter for failure to purchase a permit which results in a misdemeanor. The revised alarm ordinance eliminates permits completely. The false alarm period is changed to reflect the calendar year not on an individual basis. The new ordinance would allow residents or business owners three (3) false alarms; every false alarm thereafter a fee would be imposed upon the owner. The proposed fee of $100.00 would be imposed for the fourth (4) false alarm and every false alarm thereafter during the calendar year. The property owner and alarm user shall be personally liable for any fee imposed under this section. Payment of fees under this section shall be made to the city within 30 days after mailing the invoice. Payments not made within 30 days are delinquent. All unpaid fees and penalties, together with interest, shall become a lien against the property on which the automatic alarm is located, and shall be certified by the City Clerk to the County Treasurer-Auditor each year as a special assessment in accordance with the statutes of the state. The new ordinance would take effect January 1, 2016. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the following: • Motion to approve Ordinance 2015-09 – An Ordinance Regulating False Alarms. • Motion to Approve Resolution 2015-90 – A Resolution Approving Summary Publication of Ordinance 2015-09 Relating to False Alarms. CITY OF ROSEMOUNT COUNTY OF DAKOTA STATE OF MINNESOTA ORDINANCE NO. 2015 - 09 AN ORDINANCE REGULATING FALSE ALARMS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMOUNT, MINNESOTA, ORDAINS as follows: Section 1. Title 7, Chapter 8, of the Rosemount City Code is repealed in its entirety, Section 2. The Rosemount City Code is amended by adding a new Title 7, Chapter 8 – Alarm Systems – as follows: Chapter 8 ALARM SYSTEMS 7-8-1: PURPOSE: 7-8-2: DEFINITIONS: 7-8-3: NOTIFICATION; MULTIPILE FALSE ALARMS: 7-8-4: FEES: 7-8-5: EXCEPTIONS: 7-8-6: RESTRICTIONS: 7-8-1: PURPOSE: The purpose of this chapter is to preserve and protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Rosemount from the nuisance and negligent operation of alarm systems while providing the highest level of service to alarm users. 7-8-2: DEFINITIONS: For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: ALARM USER: A person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind in control of any building, structure, or facility in the city of Rosemount in which an alarm system is maintained. AUTOMATIC ALARM SYSTEM: Any device or system which is designed to be used for the detection of an unauthorized person in any structure, for alerting others of the commission of an unlawful act, or for the detection of smoke, fire, heat, carbon monoxide, or other hazardous condition within a structure, and which emits a sound or transmits a signal or message when activated. An automobile alarm device shall not be considered to be an alarm system under the terms of this chapter. AUTOMATIC NOTIFICATION DEVICE: An automatic alarm which automatically sends to another location, a message or signal indicating the existence of an emergency situation. CALENDAR YEAR: The period of January 1 through December 31 of each year. CENTRAL STATION SYSTEM: Alarm system that functions through a constantly attended location (central station) operated by an alarm company. Alarm signals from the protected property are received in the central station and are then re-transmitted by trained personnel to the city’s Police or Fire Department’s alarm communications center for dispatch. FALSE ALARM: An alarm signal that elicits a response by police or fire personnel when a situation requiring a response does not, in fact, exist and that is caused by the activation of the alarm system through mechanical failure, alarm malfunction, improper installation or the inadvertence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or of his or her employees or agents. A false alarm does not include an alarm caused by utility line mishaps, violent conditions of nature or other conditions determined to be beyond the control of the alarm manufacturer, installer or user. 7-8-3: NOTIFICATION; MULTIPLE FALSE ALARMS: When any automatic alarm has emitted three false alarms in any calendar year, the city’s Police Department or Fire Department, as applicable, shall notify the alarm user and property owner (if not the alarm user) of the three false alarms and the false alarm fee regulations set forth herein. 7-8-4: FEES: (A) A fee shall be imposed upon the alarm user of any automatic alarm, and the property owner of the premises on which the automatic alarm is located, for the fourth false alarm and each false alarm thereafter within a calendar year. The number of false alarms shall be counted and the fee imposed separately for responses by each the Police Department and the Fire Department. The fee shall be in the amount duly adopted by the council resolution. (B) The fee shall be imposed regardless of whether the city’s Police Department or Fire Department receives the alarm by direct connection or through any intermediary such as central station. No fee is imposed under this section when notification to either department is made directly by a person not as a result of or in response to an activated automatic alarm. (C) The property owner and alarm user shall be personally liable for any fee imposed under this section. Payment of fees under this section shall be made to the city within 30 days after mailing the invoice. Payments not made within 30 days are delinquent. All unpaid fees and penalties, together with interest, shall become a lien against the property on which the automatic alarm is located, and shall be certified by the City Clerk to the County Treasurer- Auditor each year as a special assessment in accordance with the statutes of the state. 7-8-5: EXCEPTION: A newly installed automatic alarm shall be exempt from the provisions of this subchapter for a period of 30 days from the date of installation in order to allow for proper testing and troubleshooting of the system. 7-8-6: RESTRICTIONS: No person shall install or use, monitor, and possess an automatic alarm that utilizes taped or prerecorded messages that are delivered or otherwise transmitted directly to the Police or Fire Department or the city’s dispatch center, including automatic transmission of the emergency number 911. Section 3: This ordinance will become effective from and after January 1, 2016, and requisite publication. Adopted this 17th day of November, 2015. ____________________________________ William H. Droste, Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk Published this _____ day of ___________________, 2015 in the Rosemount Town Pages. CITY OF ROSEMOUNT DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 2015 - 90 RESOLUTION APPROVING SUMMARY PUBLICATION OF ORDINANCE NO. 2015 – 09 RELATING TO FALSE ALARMS WHEREAS, the City has adopted the above referenced ordinance; and WHEREAS, the verbatim text of the ordinance is cumbersome, and the expense of publication of the complete text is not justified; and WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes §412.191, subd. 4, allows publication by title and summary in the case of lengthy ordinances or those containing charts or maps; and WHEREAS, the following summary clearly informs the public of the intent and effect of the ordinance. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Rosemount that the following summary is hereby approved for official publication in lieu of the entire ordinance: SUMMARY PUBLICATION ORDINANCE NO. 2015 - 09 AN ORDINANCE REGULATING FALSE ALARMS On November 17th, 2015, the Rosemount City Council adopted an ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 2015 – 09, effective January 1, 2016, the title of which is stated above. The purpose of the ordinance is to repeal Title 7, Chapter 8 of the Rosemount City Code entitled “Alarm Systems”, and replace it with a new Title 7, Chapter 8, entitled “Alarm Systems”. The ordinance applies to the nuisance and negligent operation of alarm systems, notification of multiple false alarms, and allows for fees for multiple false alarms. Copies of the ordinance are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk during normal business hours or upon request by calling 651-322-2003. /s/ Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Clerk is directed to keep a copy of the ordinance in her office at City Hall for public inspection and to post a full copy of the ordinance in a public place in the City for a period of two weeks. Adopted by the City Council of the City of Rosemount, Minnesota this 17th day of November, 2015. William H. Droste, Mayor ATTEST: Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk