Great Barrington, MA

Regulations and Requirements

§ 48-1. Definitions

§ 48-2. Dialing devices restricted.

§ 48-3. Compliance of dialing devices required.

§ 48-4. Mandatory alarm delay.

§ 48-5. Timing devices.

§ 48-6. Information to be filed.

§ 48-7. Permit; fee; revocation.

§ 48-8. False Alarms.

§ 48-9. Disconnection.

§ 48-10. Violation and penalties.

Communication Committee Fees

§ 48-11. Fees established.

[HISTORY: Art. l, adopted 5-7-1990 Annual town meeting, Art. 13; Art. ll, adopted 5-22-1990. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Fire Department – See Ch. 17.

Police Department – See Ch. 33.

Fees – See Ch. 91.

Peace and good order - See Ch. 129

Regulations and Requirements

[Adopted 5-7-1990 ATM, Art.13]

§ 48-1. Definitions.

As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ALARM SYSTEMS – Any alarm device which automatically dials the emergency telephone number of the Police, Fire Department or other emergency service to alert that an emergency exists or that the services of that department are needed or which transmits an alarm to the town’s alarm monitoring system. “Alarm system” shall also mean any alarm device which automatically emits an audible, visual or other response upon the occurrence of the hazard or emergency and is intended to alert persons outside the building and/or any person who in turn notifies the Police and/or Fire Department to the existence of said hazard or emergency.

DIAL ALARM or DIALING DEVICE – Any fire, police or emergency alarm device which is a telephone device or telephone attachment which automatically or electronically selects a telephone line connected to the Police, Fire Department or dispatch center and reproduces a prerecorded message to report a criminal act or other emergency requiring police, fire or emergency response.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS - Any telephone number designated by the Police, Fire Chief or Emergency Communication Commission as a telephone number through which members of the public may report an emergency or request public assistance.

FALSE EMERGENCY ALARM – Any signal actuated by an emergency alarm to which the Police, Fire Chief or emergency service responds which is not the result of an emergency.

§ 48-2. Dialing devices restricted.

All dialing devices operated by automatic means shall transmit messages only to such numbers as may be designated for that purpose by the Police, Fire Department or Emergency Communication Commission of the town. After ninety (90) days following the effective date of this Article, no person shall use, operate or install any device which will, upon activation by automatic means, initiate dialing, calling or other connection with the Police, Fire Department or emergency service of the town, either at its regularly constituted telephone number or any other which may be designated by said Police, Fire Department or Emergency Communication emergency number, without permit issued by the Board of Selectmen or Emergency Communication Commission.

§ 48-3. Compliance of dialing devices required.

No person shall use, operate or install any dialing device that will, upon activation, automatically dial, call or connect with the telephone number designated by the Chief of Police, Fire Chief or Emergency Communication Commission, for the purpose of receiving such alarm messages, more than twice for any one (1) incident. Any system installed on or after the effective date of this Article must comply with this Article. Preexisting installations must comply within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Article.

§ 48-4. Mandatory alarm delay.

Upon the activation of a burglar (break-in) alarm, there shall be a mandatory delay of at least fifteen (15) seconds before the transmission of a signal to the Police Department to enable the user to abort the signal in the event that it was triggered inadvertently. This delay shall not be applicable to a robber (holdup), fire or medical emergency alarm. Any system installed on or after the effective date of this Article must comply within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Article.

§ 48-5. Timing Devices.

The user of every alarm system emitting an audible, visual or other response shall, at the time such system is installed or within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Article in the case of existing systems, install or cause to be installed an automatic timing device which shall deactivate such alarm so that it will be activated for no more than fifteen (15) minutes.

§ 48-6. Information to be filed.

A. The user of very alarm system maintained in the town, except those installed in motor vehicles shall, within ten (10) days of the installation thereof or within sixty (60) days of enactment of this Article, file the following information:

(1) The type of alarm system.

(2) The street address and the nearest cross street of the building which houses the alarm.

(3) In the case of commercial premises, the name, address and telephone number of an authorized representative and/or an alternative who will be able to respond when called by the police to deactivate the alarm system, if necessary.

(4) In the case of a private residence, the name address and telephone of a person who is not a resident of the private residence in question and who will be able to deactivate the alarm system; an external shutoff to the alarm system shall be available to the Emergency Department to deactivate the alarm.

B. Such filing requirements are applicable to all alarm systems whether the same are or are not directly connected to the Police, Fire Department and dispatch center or are merely audible alarms. Such filing must be made within the time period specified above even though there shall have been previous notification of the existence of such alarm systems to the Police/Fire Department of the Town.

§ 48-7. Permit; fee; revocation.

A. The Board of Selectmen or the Emergency Communication Commission are hereby authorized to grant a revocable permit to any owner, lessee or occupant of property located in the town to operate, maintain, install or modify a police, fire or emergency alarm device, and no such device shall be operated unless such permit shall have first been issued.

B. The Board of Selectmen shall annually set and charge a fee for the issuance of such permit, to be renewed annually. Permits will expire on June 30 of each year.

C. The Board of Selectmen shall set and charge a fee for connection to the town’s alarm monitoring system. The Board of Selectmen shall also set and annually charge a monitoring fee for alarm systems which are transmitted to town telephone, town alarm monitoring systems or the dispatch center.

D. A permit issued pursuant to this article may be revoked at any time or from time to time by the Board of Selectmen or Emergency Communication Commission upon the giving of ten (10) days’ notice, in writing, by registered mail, to the permittee, sent to the address shown on the permit. The violation of this article shall constitute grounds for the revocation of the permit.

§ 48-8. False alarms. [Amended 5-3-1999 ATM, Art. 27]

A fee will be charged as listed below for each response by the Fire and/or Police Department to any building/residence in which an alarm malfunction or alarm activation is caused by the occupant or persons having control of the building/residence. The Police/Fire Chief or senior officer making an alarm response shall determine whether the alarm was a malfunction by the alarm system or accidental activation. After a third response in a twelve month period, the permit shall be revoked by the Board of Selectmen until the alarm system has been recertified by a reputable installer of alarms.

Second Offense and subsequent offenses: $60.

§ 48-9. Disconnection.

In the event that an alarm system emitting an audible, visual or other similar response shall fail the be deactivated within the time limitation specified in §48-5 above, the town shall have the right to take such action as may be necessary in order to disconnect any such alarm.

§ 48-10. Violation and penalties.

Any person operating an alarm system without a permit from the Board of Selectmen or Emergency Communication Commission violates the provisions of this article and shall be subject to a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.) for each offense.

Communication Committee Fees

[Adopted 5-22-1990]

§ 48-11. Fees established.

Communication Committee fees shall be as follows:

A. Annual Fee for each and every alarm: ten dollars ($10.).

B. A one-time hook-up charge to the alarm panel: two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.).

C. Monitoring fee, annually: one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.).