[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Lacey as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 43.
Unfit buildings — See Ch. 149.
Construction codes — See Ch. 159.
Fire insurance claims — See Ch. 205.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 273.
[Adopted 9-8-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-18]
[Amended 10-24-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-23
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings as indicated:
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Township of Lacey Fire Departments, namely Forked River Volunteer Fire Company and Lanoka Harbor Volunteer Fire Department.
PERSON
A natural person or persons, partnership, corporation, association, firm or other legal entity.
The Township Committee of the Township of Lacey authorizes the Fire Departments or other authorized parties to recover the costs associated with the use and/or expenditure of the following: fire-fighting materials used and expended; the use of fire trucks, fire engines, rescue equipment and tankers; the costs of personnel hours; and hazardous situation abatement materials involved in any fire, safety and rescue incident or operation and hazardous abatement incident, including vehicular accidents and fires.
Attached hereto, incorporated herein and made a part hereof as Exhibit A is a Schedule of Fees and Costs which have been authorized by the Township Committee of the Township of Lacey to be charged by the Fire Department. Said appendix is on file in the Municipal Clerk's office.
Said costs and fees as outlined above in Exhibit A shall be recovered directly by the Fire Departments by direct billing of the Fire Department or shall be recovered by a professional agency engaged in the business of emergency billing, provided that the agreement with any such professional agency shall be subject to the approval of the governing body. Said costs and charges shall be billed to the insurance provider directly. Persons shall not be billed directly for receiving fire services under this article unless billing guidelines specifically provide otherwise.
A. 
Structures.
(1) 
Cost recovery. Billing will be processed for structure fires wherein there is sufficient damage for the owner/tenant of the property to file a claim with his/her insurance company. Examples of such structure fires include but are not limited to fires to a dwelling, apartments or apartment complexes, commercial or noncommercial buildings or outbuildings.
B. 
Vehicles.
(1) 
Billing will be processed for all vehicle fires and vehicle accidents wherein the owner/insured/operator involved files a claim with his/her insurance company. Billing shall also be processed for vehicle fires in any vehicle holding yard or junkyard, regardless of insurance. Invoices shall be sent directly to the owner of the property.
C. 
Other.
(1) 
Billing will be processed for all other incidents not covered above, regardless if insured or not, such as dumpster fires, illegal burns, etc.
D. 
Billing.
(1) 
The Township, at its sole discretion, may contract with an outside business entity to process the billing and payment collection process for Fire Department services.
In addition to the aforementioned fees and costs, the Fire Departments and any authorized professional agency engaged in emergency billing are authorized to collect reasonable interest and administration fees for collecting said fees and costs.
In the event that a person utilizing the services or materials of the Fire Departments fails to make payment for those fees and services directly to the Fire Departments or authorized professional agency engaged in emergency billing, then, upon receipt of notice of failure of payment, the governing body of the Township of Lacey may elect to file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for the collection of any amounts due hereunder, including attorney's fees, or for any other relief that may be appropriate.