Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • February 22, 2012 Wyckoff Committee introduces $950 false alarm ordinance by John Koster The members of the Wyckoff Township Committee debated the proposed maximum fine for the eleventh and all subsequent false alarms set off by faulty security systems, and ultimately dropped that fine to $950. Township Committeeman Brian Scanlan supported Township Committeeman Kevin Rooney on the concept that a $1,000 fine after the tenth preventable false alarm would send a useful message to commercial property owners who habitually had fire department crews and police respond to non-events. “I don’t think it’s fair to our volunteers and our police officers to respond to false alarms,” Rooney said. Scanlan agreed. He said that, when a faulty electronic system triggers a false alarm, the property owners can simply make a phone call to the police to indicate that the alarm is false and be exonerated from legal blame. “If you can stop a false alarm just by calling the police desk and you haven’t figured it out, it’s just complete neglect,” Scanlan said. Township Committeeman Douglas Christie, who is also a volunteer firefighter, thought the high fine for multiple violations could be a bad idea. “I think when the fees have gotten so high, I’m just not comfortable with it,” Christie commented. Christie described a possible scenario in which children left at home, being warned against needless calls to the fire department, failed to call in an alarm out of fear of steep fines, even when they smelled smoke inside the house. Rooney, however, said the vast majority of false alarms come in from sophisticated commercial systems rather than residential property owners, and that some of the commercial operators appeared to have written off the multiple false alarms as part of the cost of doing business. He argued that each time a false alarm goes in, the firefighters and police who respond are placed at risk, and the expense of the turnout is foisted upon the taxpayers. Mayor Christopher DePhillips seemed to lean toward Rooney and Scanlan’s argument, while Rudy Boonstra agreed that the risk and annoyance to firefighters and police was an important consideration, but also said some alarm systems are notoriously unreliable. Rather than prolong the debate, Mayor DePhillips suggested the maximum fee be reduced to $950, and Christie dropped his objections. The ordinance, which was introduced by a unanimous vote, will be considered for final adoption this week. The proposed ordinance would provide for warnings for the first, second, and third false alarms from any location in a given calendar year, with fines of $50 for the fourth false alarm, $100 for the fifth, $150 for the sixth, $250 for the seventh, $300 for the eighth, $400 for the ninth, $500 for the tenth, and $950 for every subsequent false alarm. Township leads WOLF in purchasing initiative The Wyckoff Township Committee, acting as the lead agency for WOLF consortium, recently awarded contracts to 12 vendors who bid on the opportunity to provide items including first aid kits, trophies, team uniforms, and protective equipment to Wyckoff, Oakland, and Franklin Lakes, the three members of the consortium. Of the 262 recreation items purchased, 97 (37 percent) were priced lower than last year because of the bulk purchase. Contract awards to vendors were made based on the lowest individual unit price. This is the fourth year Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, and Oakland have engaged in this joint venture. A subcommittee of the Wyckoff Township Committee meets with the subcommittees from Franklin Lakes and Oakland to explore common areas of interest in group purchasing. In addition, police chiefs, fire chiefs, and public works managers from all three communities regularly confer on what items may be purchased jointly. The joint purchasing under WOLF is one of 20 shared services Wyckoff engages in to try to cope with the economy. J. KOSTER Glen Avenue sewer project gets funding (continued from page 3) main and replacing the pump station, which has a remaining useful life of less than five years. Crossroad Construction was deemed the lowest responsible bidder of the 10 companies that submitted proposals. Bids ranged from $119,843 to the top bid of $195,609, which was submitted by Ferraro Construction of Franklin.