Nahant sounds alarm over false calls to NU Center

NAHANT – Town Administrator Andy Bisignani said Northeastern University?s Marine Science Center will not lose its permit to operate despite 61 reported false alarms in 2012.Nahant?s fee schedule states that anytime a residence or business has more than five false burglar alarms in a year, the establishment or home can be charged $100 per false alarm and lose its permit.The Marine Science Center racked up a potential $5,750 in fees, according to police records, but Bisignani said the town doesn?t necessarily have to exercise its option, nor is it a consideration for the town to revoke an operating license.?As a rule we are not in any rush to take a person?s right to operate a business or occupancy permit away,” said Bisignani. “That?s unreasonable.”Sgt. Paul Manley of the Nahant Police Department said the fees were about average for what they usually see. He guessed that the Marine Science Center was setting off a lot of false alarms in 2012 because the center was undergoing construction.?A lot of times it could be mechanical issues with the alarm that causes it to go off,” said Manley. “They will have a technician come out and service the alarm if it needs to be serviced. But when we respond to a call, we respond as if it?s real. We take every alarm as a serious call.”The Marine Science Center wasn?t the only establishment with high numbers of false alarms. According to police, Dunkin? Donuts on Wilson Road was just as eligible for losing its permit since it was fined $1,550 for 19 false alarms in 2012. Equitable Bank, 28 Nahant Road, the only other business listed that was fined, was charged $50 for three false alarms.Residences were not immune from high fines. A home at 29 Castle Road was fined $950 for 13 false alarms.Bisignani said although no businesses were losing their permits, their operators should be more aware of the “public safety issue” of false alarms.?We don?t have that many officers in town, and responding to a false alarm occupies an officer?s time, which could prove problematic if there were other incidences. I hope to encourage the owners of businesses experiencing false alarms to be more careful if they have employees coming and going, and be more aware what sets off the alarms.”In learning of the issue of the high false alarms, Selectman Rich Lombard said he wouldn?t be surprised if Northeastern doesn?t pay their bill.?Here they are – they won?t even give back to town in lieu of taxes – and this has been going on the last 45 years,” said Lombard, a critic of the university. “They say there?s no cost to the town but we provide police, fire, and now with alarms going off they have to send cruisers up there because there are no Northeastern police.?They?re not a very good neighbor to us and they haven?t been. We?re going to make sure they pay.”A representative of the marine science center could not be reached for comment.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].