[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Oceanport 11-30-2011 by Ord. No. 899. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The incorporated limits of the Borough of Oceanport as established
under an act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Borough of Oceanport,
in the County of Monmouth," Chapter 105 of the Laws of New Jersey
1920 (approved April 6, 1920), shall constitute the fire district
of the this Fire Department.
The purpose of this chapter is to further provide for the maintenance,
regulation and control of the Fire Department of the Borough of Oceanport,
and for the adoption of the rules and regulations of the Department.
Mayor and Council or its designee is the supervisory authority
as provided in the New Jersey Statutes. The supervisory authority
shall be responsible for the overall performance of the Fire Department.
The Mayor and Council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations
for the government of the Fire Department and for the discipline of
its members (N.J.S.A. 40A:14-68).
The Mayor and Council shall adopt by resolution rules and regulations
relating to the organization and operation of the Fire Department,
which rules and regulations may, from time to time, be amended and
modified by further resolution.
A.
The Fire Department of this Borough shall be named the Oceanport
Volunteer Fire Department and shall consist of the Port-Au-Peck Chemical
Hose Company, the Oceanport Hook and Ladder Fire Company and such
other companies and apparatus as may be hereafter otherwise provided
for. The officers of said companies shall be such as are elected by
the respective companies under their charters and bylaws.
B.
Election of officers.
(1)
Elections of officers shall be held as provided in the department
rules and regulations.
(2)
Only residents of Oceanport, West Long Branch, Long Branch, Little
Silver and Eatontown may be elected to and hold any of the Departmental
offices enumerated here in. If a Departmental officer moves from one
of the above mentioned towns, he/she shall relinquish his/her position
and the position will be filled by a member of that fire company meeting
the qualifications as enumerated in the rules and regulations to hold
said position for the unexpired term. If there is no qualified member
from that company to hold the position then a qualified member of
another company recognized by the Borough shall fill the position
for the unexpired term.
C.
Ranks and positions of the Fire Department:
(1)
The following ranks and the number of positions at each rank are
authorized for the fire department:
|
Fire Chief
|
One position
|
|
First Assistant Fire Chief
|
One position
|
|
Second Assistant Fire Chief
|
One position
|
|
Captain
|
One position for each company
One position for fire police
|
|
1st Lieutenant
|
One position for each company
One position for fire police
|
|
2nd Lieutenant
|
One position for each company
One position for fire police
|
|
Chief Engineer
|
One position for each company
|
|
Engineer
|
As needed for each company
|
(2)
Each fire company may elect administrative officers for their company
as required by their company bylaws.
A.
Regular membership. No person under the age of 18 may become a regular
member of the Fire Department. Any applicant for membership must pass
satisfactorily a physical examination by a practicing physician, which
examination must be made within one month prior to the filing of the
application for membership, and a certificate as to his physical condition,
disclosed by such examination and signed by the physician making such
examination, must be presented to the company with his application
for membership in the Department.
B.
Special membership. Any person 18 years of age or older may become
a special member of the Fire Department, provided that such person
shall be an active member in good standing of the fire department
of any other municipality of the State of New Jersey. Applications
for special membership shall be subject to review and approval by
the Borough Council.
(1)
Unless any applicant for special membership shall have furnished satisfactory evidence that he or she was approved for membership in the fire department of another municipality, such applications shall be subject to of the provisions of Article II of this chapter.
(2)
In the event that any special member shall cease to be an active
member in good standing of the fire department of another municipality
for any reason, the special membership of such person in the Oceanport
Fire Department shall automatically terminate.
C.
All persons accepted for membership in the Fire Department must complete
a one-year probationary period, during which the member may be removed
from the Fire Department by the Mayor and Council on recommendation
of the Fire Chief.
A.
Annually, the Fire Department shall establish the Borough of Oceanport
Fire Committee. The Committee shall be compromised of all line officers
of Oceanport Hook and Ladder Company and Port-Au-Peck Chemical Hose
Company. In addition, the immediate ex-Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, Fire
Police Captain, OEM Director and one member from the Executive Board
of each fire company shall serve on the Fire Committee.
B.
The OEM Director and Executive Board members shall be nonvoting advisors
to the Fire Committee.
C.
The current Fire Chief shall be the chairman of the Fire Committee.
D.
The purpose of the Fire Committee shall be to formulate policies
and procedures for the Oceanport Fire Department, and to establish,
maintain and oversee a five-year plan for the Department.
E.
A decision of the Fire Committee may be appealed by a fire company
upon a vote of the company at their first regular meeting after the
decision is made. The company must notify the Fire Chief in writing
within 10 calendar days of their meeting date or forfeit the right
to appeal.
F.
The Fire Chief will notify the Borough Administrator of an appeal.
The Mayor and Council will review the decision under appeal, or designate
a person or committee to review the decision. The findings of the
reviewing authority will be final.
A.
Fire police membership. The Mayor and Council shall appoint fire
police officers who shall be members of the Oceanport Fire Department.
Appointments shall be based on the recommendation of the Fire Police
Captain and the approval of the Chief of Police. All members shall
possess and satisfy the qualifications required by N.J.S.A. 15:8-4
and any subsequent amendments of said statute.
B.
In addition to the qualifications hereinabove set forth, all fire
police officers shall have been certified by the State of New Jersey
and the Monmouth County Fire Academy or an equally qualified school.
Copies of the certificates of the qualification for each appointee
shall be filed with the Oceanport Police Chief.
C.
Upon their appointment, fire police officers shall serve a term of
five years from the date of appointment and during such term, they
shall exercise and perform such duties as shall be provided in N.J.S.A.
15:8-4 or any subsequent amendment thereto.
D.
All fire police officers shall be under the control and supervision
of incident commander of the Oceanport Fire Department whenever performing
any fire-related duties. However, whenever fire police officers are
dispatched to assist in non-fire-related activities, they shall be
under the control and supervision of the incident commander of that
activity.
E.
All other provisions of N.J.S.A. 15:8-4, and any subsequent amendments
thereto, are hereby incorporated in and made a part of this chapter
The several companies of the Fire Department shall have power
to provide for the election of their officers and members and manage
their own affairs, subject to the Borough ordinance, rules and regulations
of said Department, constitution and bylaws of the company, and the
approval of the Mayor and Council, if said Mayor and Council shall
see fit to exercise such right of approval in the interest of the
general welfare of the Borough.
Any company which shall refuse to obey or enforce obedience
to any provision of this article or direction of the Mayor and Council
or officer of the Borough of Oceanport in accordance herewith shall
be suspended from fire duty in the Borough of Oceanport in the discretion
of the Mayor and Council, in addition to any other penalties herein
provided, and its control over the apparatus in its charge shall thereupon
cease and revert to the Borough.
This article is enacted pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:42-1 et seq.
for the health, welfare and safety of its citizens and to implement
N.J.S.A. 15:8-1.1.
Membership in a volunteer fire company means membership in a volunteer fire company organized pursuant to Title 15 of the Revised Statutes or Title 15A of the New Jersey Statutes, membership in a volunteer fire company or similar organization constituted in a fire district pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:14-70-1; membership in a junior firefighters auxiliary established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:14-95; or nonpaid membership in a part paid fire department or force established pursuant to Chapter 14 of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Any person desiring membership in the Oceanport Fire Department
shall complete and file in duplicate an application which shall contain
the following information concerning the applicant:
A.
Name.
B.
Home address.
C.
Birth date.
D.
Social Security number.
E.
Driver's license number.
G.
Any conviction for the violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3, false public
alarms.
H.
Any conviction of a crime or a disorderly persons offense, which
would indicate that the applicant may be a threat to the health, safety
or welfare of the Borough.
I.
Such other information as the volunteer fire company deems relevant
to the application, provided that none of such information is prohibited
by law.
A.
Following the filing of such application, the volunteer organization
shall transmit one copy of the application to the Chief of Police
of the Borough of Oceanport, who shall conduct an investigation to
ascertain the truth of the statements made by the applicant upon his
or her application and any such other investigation of the applicants
background as may be deemed necessary for the protection of the public
good. If as the result of such investigation the applicant is found
to have been convicted of a violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:17-1a, b, c and/or
d or N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3 or any other crime or disorderly persons offense
involving moral turpitude or other offenses which the Chief believes
would be inappropriate for membership, the Chief of Police shall consider
the same in his or her decision as to whether to recommend the applicant
to the Mayor and Council as suitable. If the Chief find that the applicant
is unsuitable, he or she shall provide a list of reasons to the applicant
explaining said decision. The applicant may appeal the Chief's designation
of unsuitability to the Mayor and Council with the understanding that,
upon appeal, any information supplied to the Mayor and Council shall
become a matter of public record.
B.
In connection with said investigation, the applicant shall submit
to fingerprinting, and the Chief of Police is authorized to submit
the applicant's fingerprints and receive state criminal history record
information from the Division of State Police/State Bureau of Identification
for use in considering the suitability of all applicants covered by
this article.
This article is intended to make the volunteer fire company
an authorized agency as defined by N.J.A.C. 13:59-1.1.
The investigation by the Chief of Police authorized by this
article shall be completed within 14 days of receipt of the application
and the fingerprinting of applicant.
Upon consideration of the recommendation of the Chief of Police
as to the suitability or unsuitability of the applicant, and following
the appeal of the applicant, if such appeal occurs, the Mayor and
Council shall vote to approve or disapprove the application. Only
if a majority of the Council approves the application shall an applicant
be accepted as a member.
