Commissioners Consider Fee For False Alarms
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
False intruder alarms can take up to an hour of an police officer's time.
Tuesday, Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine asked the Kosciusko County Commissioners to consider approving an ordinance that would charge a fee for businesses or residences that do not respond to the false alarms themselves.
Rovenstine said the ordinance has been overdue for a while. He's not trying to get alarms out of businesses or residences, he said, but last year alone, KCSD responded to approximately 1,000 false alarms.
The ordinance could include some exemptions, in such cases as where the elderly are concerned or during storms. In the first year of the ordinance, Rovenstine said, the first three false alarms wouldn't be charged, but after that, the county could level a charge of about $25.
As KCSD gets busier and busier, false alarms are becoming more and more a waste of the department's time, he said.
Sgt. Chad Hill has been looking into the matter and said when some places have false alarms, the owners refuse to come out to the business or residence unless KCSD actually finds something wrong. Other counties have such ordinances in place not to make money, although some do, but to reduce the number of false alarms the police have to respond to annually. Even with a charge, Hill said, some businesses won't care, they will pay the charge, but others will update their alarm systems to help prevent false alarms.
County commissioner Ron Truex asked Hill if the ordinance applied only to false automated alarms and Hill said it was. Hill said St. Joseph County is the most liberal county with their false alarm ordinance while other municipalities and counties are far stricter. One municipality requires alarm systems to be registered with the local police, which is not what KCSD wants to do.
By consensus, the commissioners agreed to let Rovenstine work with county attorney Mike Miner on drafting an ordinance on false alarms to be presented to the commissioners at a later date.
In another matter, Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock told the commissioners he was contacted by the State Emergency Management Agency Monday, and the reason Kosciusko County was declared as part of the 34-county disaster area by President George Bush was because the county is contiguous to the other affected counties. That opens up the county to receive funding if the county can meet the minimum dollar amount.
Rock is contacting the other cities and towns in the county about their damage estimates from July 4-15.
Also, the commissioners:
• Approved a bid from David Ransbottom for $975 to mow the Lakeland Landfill.
• Approved an ordinance allowing the health department to put a lien against a landowner if the health department cleans up a site and the landowners fail to pay the health department.
• Heard from Kosciusko County Administrator Ron Robinson that two trees on the courthouse lawn were lost recently, one to the recent storms. The trees were dedicated years ago to former commissioners and the family of one of the commissioners wants to replace it. The commissioners approved for the tree to be replaced by the family.
• Approved the United Way to place a sign on the courthouse lawn from Sept. 5-21.
• Approved a road vacation for Brent and Nancy Steward in Plain Township in Rummel's Haven off Chapman Lake Drive, EMS C3 Lane. Neither the area plan commission nor any emergency services were against the vacation and there were no remonstrators.
• Agreed to send a letter to homeowners in Vanator Bluff along Shelf Drive that all sheds, steps and other obstructions must be removed from the road right of way. John Hidy needs to put in a septic field per the health department's requirements, but due to all the obstructions along the road, trucks cannot get back to the property. Steve Snyder, the attorney representing Hidy, said Hidy needs to put in the field quickly or else the property will be condemned by the health department until a new field is in place. Anyone who does not comply with the commissioners' letter may be taken to court by Hidy if the commissioners take no action.
County commissioners are Avis Gunter, southern district; Ron Truex, middle district; and Brad Jackson, northern district. They meet at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse, Warsaw, every other Tuesday. [[In-content Ad]]
False intruder alarms can take up to an hour of an police officer's time.
Tuesday, Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine asked the Kosciusko County Commissioners to consider approving an ordinance that would charge a fee for businesses or residences that do not respond to the false alarms themselves.
Rovenstine said the ordinance has been overdue for a while. He's not trying to get alarms out of businesses or residences, he said, but last year alone, KCSD responded to approximately 1,000 false alarms.
The ordinance could include some exemptions, in such cases as where the elderly are concerned or during storms. In the first year of the ordinance, Rovenstine said, the first three false alarms wouldn't be charged, but after that, the county could level a charge of about $25.
As KCSD gets busier and busier, false alarms are becoming more and more a waste of the department's time, he said.
Sgt. Chad Hill has been looking into the matter and said when some places have false alarms, the owners refuse to come out to the business or residence unless KCSD actually finds something wrong. Other counties have such ordinances in place not to make money, although some do, but to reduce the number of false alarms the police have to respond to annually. Even with a charge, Hill said, some businesses won't care, they will pay the charge, but others will update their alarm systems to help prevent false alarms.
County commissioner Ron Truex asked Hill if the ordinance applied only to false automated alarms and Hill said it was. Hill said St. Joseph County is the most liberal county with their false alarm ordinance while other municipalities and counties are far stricter. One municipality requires alarm systems to be registered with the local police, which is not what KCSD wants to do.
By consensus, the commissioners agreed to let Rovenstine work with county attorney Mike Miner on drafting an ordinance on false alarms to be presented to the commissioners at a later date.
In another matter, Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock told the commissioners he was contacted by the State Emergency Management Agency Monday, and the reason Kosciusko County was declared as part of the 34-county disaster area by President George Bush was because the county is contiguous to the other affected counties. That opens up the county to receive funding if the county can meet the minimum dollar amount.
Rock is contacting the other cities and towns in the county about their damage estimates from July 4-15.
Also, the commissioners:
• Approved a bid from David Ransbottom for $975 to mow the Lakeland Landfill.
• Approved an ordinance allowing the health department to put a lien against a landowner if the health department cleans up a site and the landowners fail to pay the health department.
• Heard from Kosciusko County Administrator Ron Robinson that two trees on the courthouse lawn were lost recently, one to the recent storms. The trees were dedicated years ago to former commissioners and the family of one of the commissioners wants to replace it. The commissioners approved for the tree to be replaced by the family.
• Approved the United Way to place a sign on the courthouse lawn from Sept. 5-21.
• Approved a road vacation for Brent and Nancy Steward in Plain Township in Rummel's Haven off Chapman Lake Drive, EMS C3 Lane. Neither the area plan commission nor any emergency services were against the vacation and there were no remonstrators.
• Agreed to send a letter to homeowners in Vanator Bluff along Shelf Drive that all sheds, steps and other obstructions must be removed from the road right of way. John Hidy needs to put in a septic field per the health department's requirements, but due to all the obstructions along the road, trucks cannot get back to the property. Steve Snyder, the attorney representing Hidy, said Hidy needs to put in the field quickly or else the property will be condemned by the health department until a new field is in place. Anyone who does not comply with the commissioners' letter may be taken to court by Hidy if the commissioners take no action.
County commissioners are Avis Gunter, southern district; Ron Truex, middle district; and Brad Jackson, northern district. They meet at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse, Warsaw, every other Tuesday. [[In-content Ad]]