Rolling Meadows says $350 fine for false alarms 'a mistake'

Notices to Rolling Meadows residents that they will be charged $350 for each false burglar alarm after the first one is apparently a mistake that the city council plans to rectify.

In other business Tuesday night, the council discussed allowing billboards in the industrial area along Route 53 because the city can make money putting them on right-of-way areas it controls.

Aldermen Larry Buske and Barb Lusk complained about notices sent out this year detailing fines for false alarms. The fliers did not give senior citizens the breaks the council had instituted a few years ago and listed a fine much higher than ever before and for the second false alarm rather than the third or fourth, officials said.

Officials realized something was wrong and have not sent out any invoices to the residents who have registered more than one false alarm this year, Police Chief David Scanlan said.

The notices seem to be the result of some confusion between fire and police alarms, staff members said. The $350 figure apparently was meant for false fire alarms because that's how much each one costs the city when two to four pieces of equipment are sent out, Fire Chief Ron Stewart said.

The fines are designed to get businesses and residents to keep their equipment in working order, Mayor Ken Nelson said.

The fire department gets 460 or more false alarms annually and in 2008 took in $16,500 in fines, but last year collected only $600 because cuts in staffing put the city way behind on billing, Stewart said.

The council met Tuesday and asked the staff to bring more information about the alarm ordinance next month.

In other business, City Manager Sarah Phillips said a company named TB&T Signs has offered the city $175,000 plus rent to put a billboard on city right of way along Route 53 at Winnetka Avenue.

The council turned the company down three years ago when the company offered $250,000, but in light of losing almost $600,000 annually in taxes from the recent closing of Sam's Club, the aldermen are willing to let the staff negotiate and study the issue.

Phillips said controls could limit the number of billboards that could be placed on private property along Route 53. They would be allowed only in the industrial district, which is between Euclid Avenue and the city limits or Northwest Highway.

The Illinois Department of Transportation regulations say billboards must be 500 feet apart, and Rolling Meadows could have more stringent restrictions, she said.