By Tim Stonesifer
The Evening Sun
HANOVER, Pa. — Hanover and Penn Township soon will be sharing a fire chief, a move several local officials say is a harbinger of the combined Hanover-area fire department to come.
Penn Township Fire Chief Jan Cromer will take over running Hanover’s fire department — while remaining in charge at Penn — when Fire Commissioner James Roth retires in April, according to a release from both municipalities. The move was made in an effort to share costs and increase efficiency, the release said.
And on Tuesday, local municipal and fire officials unanimously praised the news.
“We already work together so much, having Mr. Cromer run both departments is just a natural fit,” Hanover Borough Council President John Gerken said.
According to Gerken, the move to share a chief was made after initial meetings between himself and Penn Township Commissioner Wendell Felix, who sits on Penn’s public safety committee. It’s an idea that’s been kicked around for years, Gerken said, but gained steam when Roth announced his retirement.
And it’s likely the first step toward merger the two fire departments, Gerken said.
“I think eventually (the merger’s) going to happen,” he said. “Is everyone going to be happy about it? Probably not. But it’s going to save cost and it makes sense.”
Cromer, too, said he “absolutely” thinks a complete merger will happen in the future, but said for now he’s much more focused on taking over day-to-day duties in Hanover.
That’s going to be a challenge, he said, but one that should lead to increased efficiency between two departments that work together very closely already, and one that will save both municipalities money in the long run.
“There’s going to be more time for me to put in, but I’m not afraid of that,” he said. “Sure it’ll have challenges, but they have good people over there (in Hanover.)”
Cromer and Roth have been working together for the past decade to bring their departments into sync with each other. Both departments respond to any fire in either municipality, and their firefighters train together.
In addition, a Penn Township engine is permanently stationed at Hanover’s Clearview Fire Station, and the township provides ambulance service for both municipalities, with equipment stationed at Clearview and Hanover’s Wirt Park stations
And Cromer said it’s easy to see where future savings can be found. For instance, right now each department has a reserve engine, Cromer said, but in reality a combined department would only need one. That’s an eventual $500,000 savings, he said.
“You just can’t have fire stations every six blocks and have all the duplication you have these days,” he said. “It’s too expensive.”
But Cromer was careful to add that, with his taking over as Hanover’s chief - and even with any eventual merger, which he said is still likely years away - there will be no reduction in full-time fire personnel. The demand is there to support both departments’ career personnel, Cromer said.
“We’ll never decline in terms of career staff,” he said.
Commissioner Roth said April 29 will be his final day at the borough, and that he’s leaving at the right time, happy after 42 years as a borough employee and 32 years as fire commissioner.
Sitting in his office amid the pictures and memories culled from decades in the borough, Roth said it’s the right time, too, to move toward merging area fire departments. The local departments - and the community as a whole - would benefit from bringing together Hanover and Penn’s departments, he said, and eventually including Pleasant Hill Fire Co. and Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services would likely make sense, too.
In tight economic times and with ever more strict federal guidelines for fire departments, local companies across the country are being pushed to get bigger just to keep up, Roth said.
“We can’t do it by ourselves anymore, because we don’t have the personnel, we don’t have the money,” he said. “It’s just time.”
And Roth said Cromer is the right man to begin that process, when he takes over in Hanover this spring.
“He’s a very fine firefighter,” Roth said. “He can do it, no doubt.”
Penn Township Commissioner Phil Heilman, vice president of the board, said commissioners made the decision to share their chief over “an evaluation period,” mostly because the two departments have a long history of working well together. The potential cost savings was certainly attractive to commissioners, he said, but more important is increased equipment sharing that can lead to better coverage.
Still, Heilman was more cautious than others in talking about a possible merger.
“We’re not ready to make that step right now,” he said. “We’ll see how this goes first.”
But there’s no doubt of the dollars-and-cents savings for the two municipalities.
“Around $185,000 in current combined annual salary, Social Security and Medicare deductions (for both men) will now become about $97,000,” Penn Township Manager Jeffrey Garvick said.
With other savings like redundant pension, health and life insurance, the total cost of the new chief should be around $140,000 per year, Garvick said, which will be shared equally by both Penn and Hanover.
Assistant borough manager Barb Krebs said that, after the transition year of 2011, the borough will see an annual cost reduction of between $75,000 and $100,000.
Cromer started his career as a firefighter in 1970, when he joined Hanover’s fire department, he said, before then joining the Parkville Fire Co. in 1973 after he moved across town. He would serve for 13 years as Parkville’s chief before taking over as Penn’s part-time chief in 1997.
Cromer then began as Penn Township’s full-time fire chief in 2001.
Since then, Cromer has run fire operations across the township and worked closely with Roth and his department. That’s something that will start almost immediately and continue over the next few months, Cromer said, as he prepares to take on more responsibility and learn the ropes in Hanover.
“I still have a lot to learn from Commissioner Roth,” he said. “He’s got to put 30-some years of experience and knowledge in my brain in a few months. But we’ll get it done.”
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