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Select Board discusses registration and fines for repeated false alarms to ease volunteer fire department burden
Summary
Board discussed drafting an ordinance requiring registration of automatic fire alarms and authorizing fines for repeat false alarms to address volunteer‑department call volume; members asked staff to circulate neighboring towns' ordinances and to check statutory delegation of authority.
The board discussed a proposal to require registration of automatic fire alarms and to permit fines for repeated false alarms, a measure introduced after a pattern of frequent calls burdened volunteer responders. "Every time a false alarm goes off, you can have 0.5 a dozen members of the fire department going to the firehouse," the chair said while describing the operational strain.
Members raised legal questions about delegating fine‑imposition to the volunteer fire chief without jeopardizing the department's nonprofit independence. The chair said passing an ordinance requiring registration and delegating limited enforcement to the chief would not alter the department's independent corporate status, but asked staff to draft model language and circulate examples from neighboring towns for review.
