Ho-Ho-Kus February 15, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 Council introduces refined alarm registry ordinance by Jennifer Crusco Late last year, the Ho-Ho-Kus Council approved Ordinance 1001, which established a $100 fee for the installation of burglar alarm systems, which are to be registered with the Ho-Ho-Kus Police Department. That ordinance is now being refined, and the council recently introduced Ordinance 1003, which includes amendments to the original regulations. Ordinance 1003, which will be up for public hearing at the Feb. 28 council meeting, includes a series of definitions pertaining to alarms, alarm systems, and false alarms; remedies for alarm malfunctions; penalties; details regarding registration with the police department; and additional fee information. For example, after the initial $100 registration fee, alarm users would be charged an annual fee of $25. In addition, the ordinance calls for a $10 late fee that would be charged for any alarm device or system installed prior to Jan. 30 that has not been registered with the police department. The amended ordinance defines an alarm as any type of “alarm-activating equipment which provides warning of burglary, intrusion, fire, flood, or other potential for harm to life or property.” Under this ordinance, medical alert devices, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors that are not connected to a central alarm station would be exempt. Alarm systems are defined as “one or more alarm devices for the express purpose of giving visual, audible, and/or electronic warning of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, fire, flood, or other potential harm to life or property.” The definition of a false alarm is a signal that elicits an unwarranted response by emergency responders. This section of the ordinance notes that alarm signals caused by violent natural events, including lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, strong winds, power issues, or other extraordinary (continued on page 17) Last week, Ho-Ho-Kus and Upper Saddle River joined several other local school districts that have opted to move their elections to November. According to the state law signed by Governor Chris Christie on Jan. 17, districts that move their elections to the date of the general election will no longer submit their budgets to the voters as long as the spending plans are within the state-mandated cap, which is currently two percent. In districts where the budget election has been eliminated, voters would only be asked to cast ballots on the spending plan if there were a need for a referendum to allow the district to exceed the cap. Ho-Ho-Kus Superintendent of Schools Deborah Ferrara pointed out that, when a school budget is defeated, the budget is then subject to potential cuts by the borough’s governing body. “If we stay within the cap, there is no concern regarding the (passage of the) budget,” she said, adding that, if the council were to cut money from a budget defeated at the polls, the impact would be significant. “In a district like Ho-Ho-Kus, a small amount makes a big difference,” she added. Governor Christie promoted the move as a means of saving school districts money and increasing voters’ participation, since a greater percentage of voters turn out for the November election than for the school election in April. Districts that have opted to leave the vote in April have Districts opt for November elections commented that the cost savings associated with moving the election would not be significant, and others said they did not wish to risk politicizing the school board election by holding it on day of the general election. Still others have noted the importance of voters’ participation in the budget approval process. Candidates for school boards that move the election must file their nominating petitions by the June primary election. The terms of current trustees will be extended until board reorganizes. Candidates in districts where the election will remain in April have until Feb. 27 to file for election. In addition to Ho-Ho-Kus and Upper Saddle River, districts that have already made the shift to a fall election include Allendale, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Saddle River, Waldwick, Mahwah, and Glen Rock. Ramsey and Midland Park have opted to retain April elections, and allow voters to continue to cast ballots on both the trustees and the school budgets. Other local districts are still deciding on the move. Districts have until Feb. 17 to decide if they wish to make the change. Once the change has been made, the election cannot be moved back to the spring for four years. School boards that do not decide to make the change can still be compelled to do so. A municipality’s governing body can force the move, or residents can present a petition to put the question on the ballot in the November election.