City loses lawsuit over alarm ordinance

Date: 5/16/2012

May 16, 2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled a city ordinance requiring a specific fire alarm system to be illegal and decided in favor of the St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in its lawsuit against the city.

City Councilor Timothy Rooke, who called attention to the issue in 2009, said, "I feel we [the city] have a moral and ethical obligation to reimburse any commercial property owner who installed the more expensive equipment. Especially when many of the businesses had estimates/bids showing they could have the State Building Code equipment installed for less and still meet the legal requirement of the State Building Code."

The State Building Code allows for three different options. Building owners can chose among competing systems and contractors as long as they meet the state's qualifications.

The Finance Control Board adopted the ordinance requiring a "city-approved radio box" on Nov. 27, 2006. Businesses were given until Dec. 31, 2008, to make the switch to the new system. If businesses did not comply they could have faced a $100 a day fine.

The city then issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on Nov. 28, 2007, stipulating the wireless alarm boxes "must be Factory Mutual approved for public reporting." Factory Mutual is one of several manufacturers of the wireless technology. The only company carrying the Factory Mutual brand at the time of the ordinance was Wel-Design Alarm Systems of Wilbraham.

According to Rooke, the RFP was advertised for one day. There was only one vendor who could meet the requirements of the RFP.

In 2009, Rooke said one business he knows paid $30,000 for the system stipulated by the city ordinance. If allowed to follow the state building regulations, that business would have been in compliance with a system costing $3,200, he added.

In its judgment released May 4, the justices wrote, "The question before us is whether the code preempts the ordinance. We hold that it does."

The judgment was the end of a long legal battle, with the cathedral winning every decision along the way

St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral received a letter from the city on March 10, 2009, that it must install the designated fire alarm system. In April, the church upgraded its alarm system, but not with the one stipulated by the city. Instead it chose a system that met with state standards.

After an inspection in which the absence of the city-approved system was noted, the city sent the church a notice of a $3,000 fine. The church appealed the fine to the State Building Code Appeals Board, which issued a ruling in the church's favor that it was in compliance.

In 2010, Superior Court Associate Justice Cornelius Moriarty II found in favor of St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Western Massachusetts in its case against the Springfield Fire Department and the City of Springfield. The city appealed and the Supreme Judicial Court transferred the case from the Appeals Court.

City Solicitor Edward Pikula told Reminder Publications last week the city is now working to revise the ordinance to comply with the court's decision and members of the Fire Department have been meeting with the city's legal staff. He said the ordinance has not been enforced since there was an injunction granted by the court.

The cathedral will not be awarded any damages and Pikula said he has not been notified of any other lawsuits from other building owners. He added that he didn't think that other suits would be filed as "from a practical standpoint there were no damages done to the people who installed [the city-required system.]"