By Kimberly Redmond
The Record
SOUTH HACKENSACK, N.J. — The Township Committee is expected to introduce an ordinance that would reduce the number of calls a firefighter must respond to in order to maintain good standing in the volunteer fire department.
The changes to the township code, which were recently proposed by the fire department’s board of officers, will help “modernize and bring it up to date,” Fire Chief Mike Nasta said at a recent Township Committee meeting.
Nasta said that the board hopes to give township firefighters every opportunity to stay in the department, but many are working two jobs due to the poor economic climate. Those additional jobs, he said, sometimes make response to alarms difficult.
Under the township code, a firefighter can be dismissed if he doesn’t respond to 50 percent of the fire calls for two straight years.
The board of officers has suggested decreasing the requirement to 40 percent.
The board proposed a similar change on clothing allowances. Members who don’t meet the 50-percent attendance requirement are not given a clothing allowance. The board has suggested amending that figure to 40 percent.
The board also proposed to change the special clothing allowance for members with 25 years in good standing. They now receive the allowance if they have an attendance rate of 50 percent. That would be changed to 40 percent.
The board asked Township Attorney David Nasta to draft an ordinance for future consideration.
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