Elk Grove Village moving toward wireless alarms
Elk Grove Village officials may require all new businesses and multifamily condominium/apartment complexes built in town to install wireless fire alarm systems they say would reduce false alarms and save the village money.
Village trustees could adopt an ordinance to make this rule part of the building code at the Jan. 24 board meeting, officials said.
The change would reduce the number of false alarms to which fire personnel respond because a wireless system can differentiate between an actual fire and a power outage, Elk Grove Village Deputy Fire Chief Scott Miller told the village board this week.
“You’ll get multiple signals from the same equipment for power outages or smoke,” Miller said.
The existing telephone landline-based system used throughout the community is old and outdated and can send false signals or short out, officials said. Firefighters must respond when they can’t get in touch with someone on-site to verify whether there is an actual fire, Miller added.
After the first false alarm, the village starts charging fees to businesses for each subsequent false alarm.
The village will be upgrading its own alarm system and go wireless in coming months. The upgrade, which will include wireless receivers at village facilities, will not require the expenditure of village funds.
It will save the village $9,000 yearly, Village Manager Ray Rummel said.
Mayor Craig Johnson suggested an April 1 start date for the new rule, once the ordinance is approved by the village board, so as not to penalize businesses that already are under construction.
Existing businesses and multifamily complexes would be grandfathered in, but have the option of upgrading to a wireless alarm system with the $125 activation fee waived by the vendor for the first 18 months after the village adopts the new rule.
“We think a vast majority of (businesses) will (upgrade) because it’s a savings to them,” Johnson said.
The wireless service is being offered by the security company ADT, in conjunction with Northwest Central Dispatch. The cost of going wireless for an individual business would be $91 per month, which includes the equipment, installation, maintenance and repairs, Miller said.
By comparison, a telephone-based alarm system can cost $100 just for the landline, plus the cost of the alarm monitoring system, he added.
Miller said several neighboring communities that have gone wireless — Palatine, Hoffman Estates, Buffalo Grove and Streamwood — have said the system has worked well and successfully reduced the number of false alarm calls.
Mount Prospect, Schaumburg and Arlington Heights also are considering converting to wireless, he added.
“It’s more cost-effective for the businesses,” Johnson said. “It saves us money, wear and tear of the equipment, gas costs. It makes sense to get a more modern, efficient system that provides faster response time. There’s no reason not to try this now.”