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New emergency-response fees set
By MARY SMITH
MINERAL RIDGE
Weathersfield Township trustees approved a new list of fees for hazardous- materials calls and environmental emergencies.
The rates for emergency response were set in 2000 and have stayed the same for 10 years.
Regulations governing the fire, police and emergency personnel have changed, however, trustee chairman Steve Gerberry explained, requiring a change in the township’s overall billing structure.
Cell-phone use and man-hours worked can no longer be billed. Previously, manpower was billed at $47 an hour.
Fire Chief Randy Pugh said that any cost associated with the Haz-Mat response rates simply recoups the township’s actual expenses.
He said firefighters, who are considered volunteers, responding to a Haz-Mat call have not been paid for years.
He said the new regulations will allow him to bill a volunteer firefighter’s time on the scene at a Haz-Mat incident by units. Normally, a fire call is one unit, and volunteer firefighters usually made $9.50 an hour or $10 an hour as a unit wage.
Regulations for Haz-Mat and environmental services are set by insurance brokers and by the National Fire Protection Agency.
The township will now charge $100 an hour for an emergency medical-service response; $200 an hour for an EMS advanced response; $250 an hour for a firetruck response, up from $200; $50 an hour for a fire-chief unit, down $50 from $100; $200 for a rescue unit; and $10 an hour for a support unit.
An air unit will be charged at $200 an hour; a foam trailer, a mass casualty trailer, $200 an hour; police car, $10 an hour and $37.92 for the officer per hour; hazardous cleanup, $30.49 an hour per person; dump truck, $30 an hour; backhoe, $40 an hour; and sand, $40 a load.
Police Chief Joseph Consiglio announced police will beef up patrols in neighborhoods in the township in the next few weeks as weather improves and children are out at play.
The plan is to show an increased police presence and to beef up citations for speeding and stop-sign violations.