MANCHESTER – The township moved a step closer toward its plan to create a paid fire service during a recent council meeting.
During the meeting the Township Council approved three ordinances, including one that involved a “bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of a fire department apparatus appropriating $760,000.”
“This is for the purchase of a fire truck for a paid fire department for the day shift and all the equipment that goes on it,” Council President Craig Wallis explained.
Councilman Robert Hudak asked if the apparatus would be available to the volunteer members of the fire department.
Wallis responded, “if needed, yes. They will also have access to the EMS building and their apparatus will be accessible to our people.”
Mayor Ken Palmer and the council reported on a recent meeting of volunteer fire service representatives and other municipal officials.
“The candor was really good there. If you know our fire chiefs, they can be very candid and very up front,” Wallis said.
He added, “I think they do understand that we are there to support them along with our paid part, and our support of them won’t change. It will be as it was in the past. Volunteers are the backbone of our service. We need to make sure they are taken care of too.”
Mayor Palmer agreed. “On behalf of the council and myself, we have no interest in taking away their responsibilities. The reason we are doing the paid (service) is to support their ability to respond to fires. We certainly support our volunteers and we provide them with anything they need.”
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve done a review and with council’s approval we’ve invested $3.5 million into our fire services in five and a half years. Money wise, it shows our commitment to our firemen. We rely on them and we would not be able to provide the safety of the town without them,” Mayor Palmer added.
In other news, the council passed an ordinance involving a cap bank in accordance to state regulations which Wallis explained was to be used for emergencies. “We generally don’t use it but it is just in case.”
An ordinance authorized the sale of property in the township at 1314 Englemier Boulevard which has a minimum bid set at $5,212. “We’ve reviewed the property. We don’t need it for an issue for the drainage or anything else. It has to be (sold) to a contiguous land owner and if it is going to be used it has to be used to make a conforming lot,” Wallis said.
An ordinance was introduced amending the salaries for bargaining unit employees and the changes were for badge sellers and beach attendants and camp counselors. Township Clerk Sabina Martin said the raise “brings them to minimum wage which is at $15.”
A contract between Manchester and T&M Fireworks for a June 26 display with a rain date of July 14 was also approved.
Another contract was with Blue Raven Entertainment for “the British Invasion which I hear is supposed to be great. Everyone has been raving about it,” Martin said. A contract with LaGuardia Entertainment for a concert series was also approved.
Also discussed was the purchase of a Department of Public Works truck. The truck would include a crane that will also be purchased and three 2022 model Ford F250 vehicles through a New Jersey state contract. These contracts offer reduced costs because many towns are buying from the same cooperative deal.
The township is also upgrading its fuel system for its public works department. “It is pretty ancient and needs updating and will stop some of the downtime we have at the pump sometimes,” Martin said.
“When that thing breaks, we have to run the cars and trucks in town all the way to the other end of town where the DPW is. That is a good 10 to 11 miles every time they need gas. We are appropriating this to stop some of the problems that we’ve been having more and more,” Wallis explained.
Hudak reported that the Township Planner provided him information concerning the cannabis cultivation issue in preparation for the draft ordinance and that he and Councilman James Vaccaro would be meeting soon.
“Our goal is to have something for the next meeting at least so we would have a draft ordinance to discuss and an introduction of for the second meeting of May,” Hudak added.
