(From left) Deputy Mayor Ted Farnham, Trustee David Chertoff, Mayor Jeffrey Molnar, and Trustee David Lispey. Submitted photo

BEMUS POINT – Bemus Point has two new local laws on the books – one allowing organizations to sell raffle tickets on Sundays and a Fire Alarm Nuisance Law.

Village Board members passed the laws after a December public hearing.

According to Mayor Jeffrey Molnar, Local Law 2 will allow organizations within the village to legally sell raffle tickets on Sundays. Molnar noted that the current gambling laws prevent any sort of sales for basket or raffle tickets on Sundays, however a local law would have the ability to fix this. The need for the law was first recognized when the Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church wanted to do some sort of raffle on a Sunday. Molnar stated that the Catholic Diocese actually approached the church themselves, informing them that it would be a legal violation to try to go through with these ticket sales. After a brief discussion, and no comments from members of the public, the motion was passed declaring games of chance to be lawful activity in the village given compliance with the remaining regulations.

The second local law was for the Fire Alarm Nuisance Law. The goal of this law is to further promote, and protect, the health and wellbeing of the residents in the village, according to Molnar, by reducing the number of avoidable alarms and emergency calls. Molnar stated that avoidable alarms in the village contribute to the improper utilization of manpower, resources, and valuable equipment. In addition, Molnar also noted that when the avoidable alarms require emergency teams to respond not only does it contribute to a higher accident rate, but also delays response times for genuine emergencies. This law is seeking to ensure that the fire response teams will be able to properly respond in real cases of emergency, and will also allow them to begin reaching out to those with frequently falsely activated alarms.

“Those of us here at the table that are involved in the fire department will tell you we’ve had several cases where we went for months responding to some places,” said Molnar.

Molnar noted that this new law pertaining to nuisance fire alarms will include an entire new list of updated definitions as well. These definitions give more clear, and modernized, outlines to the terms and regulations for the department. These new definitions will be enforced by the village’s code enforcement officer Bob Samuelson. Samuelson will ensure that locations with repeated nuisance alarms must get the problem fixed in a timely manner. If the location continually fails to fix the faulty alarm, a fine of between $150 and $250 may be issued along with up to ten days of imprisonment. The new law was passed unanimously following a short discussion.