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Residents press council to enforce false-alarm fines, and ask action on repeated nuisance calls
Summary
Residents reported frequent false-alarm deployments at housing-authority sites and repeated emergency calls to a nuisance address; the council said it passed an ordinance to enable fines and that staff will follow up with enforcement information and DCA contacts.
Multiple residents used public comment at the May 27 meeting to press the council on enforcement actions for frequent false alarms at housing-authority properties and for persistent nuisance behavior at 309 1st Avenue.
Jean Maisonneuve (3rd Avenue) told council that weekly, sometimes multiple daily, deployments to Robinson Towers and other housing-authority locations impose costs on the city and threaten response capacity. He said he had provided cost estimates and asked whether the housing authority is being billed under the ordinance the council adopted. “This is millions of dollars a year,” Maisonneuve said, describing repeated nightly deployments.
City staff responded that the council had passed an ordinance authorizing fines for false alarms and that the administration met with the housing authority; staff said they believed fines were being issued but would compile and share exact enforcement numbers. The city manager said he would gather department data and provide an update, and suggested contacting the state Department of Community Affairs if required for properties certified as group homes.
Separately, callers raised a long-running concern about 309 1st Avenue, citing roughly 100 emergency calls over multiple years and dozens in the current period. City staff said the address is certified as a group home, that consolidated department data show fewer calls than some residents believed, and that staff would continue to investigate and follow up with the resident who raised the complaint.
Why it matters: Repeated emergency-service deployments can affect response times, impose costs and raise public-safety concerns. Residents asked for transparent reporting of enforcement activity and for the administration to apply the ordinance consistently.
Next steps: City staff committed to provide numbers and follow up with the complainant; officials said they would check enforcement status and liaise with DCA as needed.
