A new false alarm bylaw is in the works for North Battleford.
City council saw a draft of the proposed new bylaw for the first time at Monday night's council meeting.
The bylaw is being drafted in response to concerns by the city about the growing number of false alarms that emergency and police personnel must respond to. In the January 2011 crime statistics reported by Staff Sgt. Phil Wilson, 85 of the calls in that month were false alarms - a number not out of line with what has been seen in other months.
Calls for something to be done about the number of false alarms have been an ongoing issue at city hall. The issue has been raised at a number of previous municipal services meetings by Mayor Ian Hamilton and councillors.
It is expected the bylaw will be discussed at the municipal services committee meeting later this month before being introduced at council in late March. It is expected there will be more debate on the bylaw wording at that time.
The purpose of the bylaw, as stated in the draft, is to reduce police responses to false alarms by promoting the proper use and maintenance of alarm systems through the establishment of a program of administration, registration, fees and conditions for the suspension of police responses to alarms.
The proposed bylaw sets out the duties of the alarm owners and alarm companies as well as alarm registrations and assessment of fees.
