Trending
MILL HALL -- Mill Hall Borough Council is in the process of decertifying the Mill Hall Volunteer Fire Company.
Enacted as of Jan. 1, 2024, the fire company will no longer be supplying fire coverage within the borough. Council unanimously voted yes on the decertification during Tuesday's monthly regular meeting.
The decertification was decided as fire company officers were unable to attain the proper training certifications. The concerns lie with the safety of fire fighters and borough residents. Without the proper training, the borough fears safety is at risk, council said on Tuesday night.
The borough adopted an ordinance on June 6, 2022, which required fire company officers to have the proper training certifications. In November of 2022, council gave the company a year to achieve the required training with a six month update in May of this year.
The lack of required training has stunted the company's ability to respond to certain calls such as with lifting assists, according to reports. Lately, companies like Flemington Goodwill Hose Fire Company have picked up in the area where Mill Hall could not.
"We enacted a training ordinance back on June 6, 2022. We put requirements in the fire company section of the ordinance, requiring training for officers of the fire company. We moved forward to November of that same year," Council President Dan McCloskey said. "We, at that time, told the officers one year from that point, to do the training that fell through at their station. The plan was to have the officers here on Nov. 15 of this year at our safety meeting to give us the training certificates to prove they have the required training to meet the ordinance."
However, none of the officers attended the meeting except for Tony Walker, the fire chief, and one other firefighter.
McCloskey said they searched elsewhere, finding what other fire companies require.
The ordinance that was adopted by the borough was essentially the same as Flemington Borough.
"We have the same ordinance as Flemington Borough -- recommended by one of the trustees.
We took Flemington's ordinance and we copied it verbatim. We took out a few things that didn't pertain to Mill Hall and we added a few things that did," McCloskey explained.
The fire company has, however, adopted the borough's training requirements into their operating guideline, according to Walker. Yet there still is no evidence of the officers' training certifications. Borough council has reached out on multiple occasions with no feedback.
"The fact that we've got no feedback and we've asked many times. The only questions we've gotten from them are 'What are you going to do if we don't do it?'" McCloskey said.
Mill Hall Borough's Mayor, Thomas Bossert, attended a meeting with the fire company this month.
During this meeting, according to McCloskey, Bossert was told that "everybody" had all the necessary training certificates they needed. McCloskey said that was "in-fact, not true."
"I am very much interested in safety. That is a responsibility of the mayor, and this is one of the glowing safety issues that we have at this point in the borough," Bossert expressed. "With the moves you have made as borough council, you're encouraging this fire company to get the necessary safety training to be safe. Not only are we talking about the safety of firefighters, but the safety of residents in this borough."
For the time being, the borough has decided to look elsewhere for primary fire coverage. Council plans on reaching out to their solicitor, Paul Ryan, to start the process.
Company members will be notified via a letter of the decertification announcement. Walker plans on reaching out to company members as well prior to their fire company meeting on Monday.
The fire company receives training packages through the Clinton County Firefighters Association. The association is getting ready to send out training notices and requests for 2024 already, according to Walker.
The association will buy two separate packages that will give the company 400 hours of training through Bucks County Community College. The packages cost $1,300 each -- $2,600 in total -- and are approved by Clinton County Commissioners. The two packages will give 400 total hours of training and two certifications for hazmat awareness.
"The county commissioners actually find the training packages. We pay for them upfront and as soon as the commissioners approve the budget, we get reimbursed for the costs," Walker said.
He said one package is being offered in February for training that is required by the borough's ordinance. However, that one has not been scheduled yet.
Another package is for vehicle rescue and related training that is coming up. That one has been applied for, according to Walker.
Training locations are available relatively local -- within Clinton, Centre and Lycoming counties. Company members are also able to privately receive training. They are able to be reimbursed by the borough with a receipt. Walker said the members are aware they are able to go through training that way. Some required training is offered locally throughout the year, he said.
"At the last meeting, I told the council -- and I sit here as the fire chief -- you guys do what you have to do to lookout for the citizens of Mill Hall Borough just as we will hopefully continue to do so," Walker told borough council.
In other business, council approved several agenda items for office hour changes.
The borough office hours were voted to be changed to Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The office administrator's scheduled hours were voted to be changed to Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The public works department scheduled hours were voted to be changed to Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.