Fire Department Service Fees By-law - F-4

Bylaw F4
A bylaw to provide for the ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE DEPARTMENT SERVICE FEES

********

WHEREAS section 220.1 of the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.45, as amended by section 10 of Schedule M of the Savings and Restructuring Act, 1996 provides that the Council may by bylaw impose fees for services and activities provided or done by or on behalf of The Corporation of the City of London;

AND WHEREAS it is expedient to impose fees for certain services provided by the London Fire Department;

THEREFORE the Municipal Council of The Corporation of the City of

London enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SERVICE FEES BY-LAW

Part 1
DEFINITIONS

1.1 Definitions
In this bylaw:

Non-resident - defined

"Non-resident" shall mean any person who does not reside in the City of London or who is not the owner or tenant of land in the City of London or who is not the spouse of an owner or tenant of land in the City of London.

False Alarm - defined

"False alarm" shall mean a fire alarm when there is no fire.

Owner - defined

"Owner" shall include a mortgagee, lessee, tenant, occupant, a person entitled to a limited estate in land, a trustee in whom land is vested, a committee of the estate of a mentally incompetent person, an executor, an administrator and a guardian.

Part 2
VEHICLE ACCIDENT RESPONSE FEES

2.1 Fees response to vehicle incidents

On every occasion where the vehicles, equipment and personnel of the London Fire Department respond to a call or incident on any roadway within the City of London where such call or incident involves a motor vehicle owned by a non-resident of the City of London, such non-resident motor vehicle owner will be charged the applicable service response fee set out in the applicable by-law to provide for the various Fees and Charges of this by-law.

Part 3
FALSE ALARM RESPONSE FEES

3.1 Notification required - work on alarm system

No person shall undertake any work on any fire alarm system that:

(a) sends an alarm directly to the London Fire Department; or

(b) to a fire alarm monitoring company

without in either case having first notified the Communications Division of the London Fire Department.

3.2 Fees - false alarms - non-notified

When the vehicles, equipment and personnel of the London Fire Department respond to a false fire alarm that is the result of a failure to notify the Communications Division of the London Fire Department as required in section 3.1 of this by-law, the owner of the property at which such a false fire alarm has occurred will be charged the non-notified false alarm response fee as set out in the applicable by-law to provide for the various Fees and Charges.

3.3 Fees - false alarms - frequent

When the vehicles, equipment and personnel of the London Fire Department respond to four or more false fire alarms to the same building in any calendar month, or to six or more false fire alarms to the same building in any calendar year, the owner of the property at which the false fire alarm has occurred will be charged with the applicable false fire alarm response fee set out in the applicable by-law to provide for the various Fees and Charges.

3.4 Fees - payable on or before due date

The Fire Chief shall mail or cause to be mailed not less than 60 days prior to the due date identified therein an invoice for the applicable false alarm response fee to the property owner of a property at which a false alarm of the type set out in this by-law has occurred.

3.5 Fees - non payment - collected like taxes

A false alarm response fee imposed upon an owner under sections 3.2 and 3.3 of this by-law is a lien and charge upon the property of the owner at which the false alarm occurred, and, if the fee or any part thereof remains unpaid after the due date, the amount unpaid may be collected by distress upon the goods and chattels of such owner, or the City Clerk, upon notice to the owner of the amount due, the person by whom it is due and the property upon which a lien is claimed, shall enter the same upon the collector's roll, and the Tax Collector shall proceed to collect it in the same way, as nearly as may be, as municipal taxes are collectable.

3.6 Fees - Nonpayment - interest penalty

The Tax Collector shall add to the amount of any false alarm response fee due and unpaid interest at the rate of 1 percent per month for each month from the month in which the payment of the false alarm response fee was due and payable until the said fee is paid.

Part 4
REPEAL

4.1 Repeal - previous by-law

By-law F-3 passed on April 1, 1996 is repealed.

Part 5
ENACTMENT

5.1 Effective date

This bylaw comes into force on August 6, 1996.

Passed in Open Council on August 6, 1996.