By Stephanie Hacke
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
SOUTH BALDWIN, Pa. — Members of South Baldwin Volunteer Fire Company spend roughly 80 percent of their time as firefighters fundraising, Chief Joe Cambest told Baldwin Borough council last week.
“It should be the other way around,” Cambest said. “We’ve been pretty lucky, we haven’t had anybody get hurt. But there’s going to come a time when we’re starting to fall behind the eight-ball.”
Chiefs and leaders from Baldwin’s four fire companies, South Baldwin, Baldwin Independent No. 1, Option and Becks Run, met earlier this month to come up with a plan for how to jointly solve financial issues at each station.
“Something has to be done. We’ve been surviving, living within our means, but it’s starting to catch up to us,” Cambest said.
Representatives from South Baldwin, Becks Run and Option approached council last week, seeking an increase in municipal funding, from $41,000 to $60,000 a year per fire company, beginning in 2012. Then, in 2014, fire officials are asking council to implement a fire tax of .5 mills, which would provide dedicated funding for the stations.
A .5-mill dedicated fire tax would cost an estimated $50 per taxpayer, Cambest said.
A study that will outline suggestions for the future of the fire companies is being conducted by the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Governor’s Center for Local Government Services is nearly finished, Borough Manager John Barrett said. A draft of the study is being reviewed in Harrisburg and should be sent to borough officials within the next week.
Borough council members had several suggestions on how the fire companies can raise more money.
In 2001, borough council adopted an ordinance that allows the fire companies to bill people for their service. Bills also should be sent out when fire companies respond to more than three false alarm calls at a borough residence, something the municipal code allows them to do, council members said.
“I think we have the opportunity here to make some money,” council President Michael Stelmasczyk said.
One issue that borough council and fire company leaders addressed is consolidation.
There are three options to merge or consolidate fire companies in the borough, Hurka said. One idea is for Option and South Baldwin to consolidate, and Becks Run and Baldwin Independent No. 1 to merge, Hurka said. Another option is to have two stations, either existing or new, with one governing body. A third option, which Hurka said is a “bad idea,” is for the borough to have one, paid fire department.
“It’s a tough situation,” Hurka said. “Right now, we don’t have the funds to consolidate.”
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