The Falls Township supervisors are making strides to give back to volunteer emergency service crews. During its recent meeting, the board voted in favor of entering into an intergovernmental agreement with Lawrence Township, New Jersey to enable cooperative mutual aid for both municipalities.
Falls Township Fire Marshal Rich Dippolito told the board that Falls fire companies travel to Lawrence Township “fairly often” to support as needed. The agreement, Dippolito said, would allow New Jersey emergency service crews to “come back here.”
“We’ve gone to New Jersey as long as I’ve been in the fire company,” said Dippolito. “We’ve done this already with the city of Trenton.”
As part of the mutual aid agreement, each municipality is responsible for providing its own liability insurance and workers compensation insurance.
In related emergency services news, the supervisors approved a fuel reimbursement policy for volunteer fire police officers. Supervisor Jeff Boraski suggested at last month’s meeting that the township offer some sort of refueling or reimbursement in instances when volunteers expend large quantities of their own fuel.
“It’s the least we can do for these guys,” Boraski said, adding that volunteers often assist for multiple hours at a time with their vehicles running. “These guys are out there in their personal vehicles blocking traffic.”
As part of the new policy, volunteer fire police called out to assist police or fire departments for two hours or longer will receive reimbursement for fuel expenses at a rate of one gallon of fuel per hour on the scene.
In other business, the board accepted a cyber liability quote from Travelers Insurance. The $3 million coverage has a $26,495 premium cost. The company provided the lowest price quote of six companies, according to township manager Matthew Takita.
“Cyber risk has increased tremendously,” Takita said, noting that last year’s cyber liability quote was one page long, while this year’s is six pages.
While Falls Township has not suffered any cyber security issues, other municipalities, as well as retailers, healthcare providers and large companies have had to address cyber threats.
