There shall be appointed by the Mayor of the Borough two members of the Council to be the Fire Commissioner and Deputy Fire Commissioner and who, together with the officers, as shall be elected, and members, shall constitute the Fire Department of the Borough.
The membership of the said Department shall not exceed 60 in number. Any person of at least 18 years of age, of good moral character, who is a resident of or gainfully employed within the Borough or, upon approval of the Borough Council, a resident of or gainfully employed person in a contiguous municipality shall be eligible for acceptance to membership in the Department. Each eligible member, as well as all existing active member firefighters, must be physically fit to perform the duties of a firefighter and shall annually have a physical examination and produce evidence in the form of a certificate to that effect made by a practicing physician after having been examined by the said physician. Applicants must be able to read, write, and speak the English language. Applicants must not have been convicted of a criminal offense. Every person accepted to membership in the Department shall sign the membership roll, which shall be kept on file by the Borough Clerk, and such member shall promise to perform all the duties of a firefighter as prescribed by the bylaws and rules of the Department and the ordinances of the Borough.
Membership shall be in accordance with the bylaws of the Department, as well as the New Jersey Administrative Code. Membership in the Ho-Ho-Kus Volunteer Fire Department shall be open to all persons who are physically fit and able to perform the duties of volunteer firefighters, without discrimination on the basis of an applicant's race, creed, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, or marital status. Any person who is rejected or dismissed from membership by the Department shall have the right to challenge such action in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Law Against Discrimination.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq.
[Amended 3-28-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-79]
The Bylaws and Rules Committee of the Fire Department shall each year review, amend and/or accept the bylaws and rules for the Department. The bylaws shall become effective immediately after approval and adoption by a vote of 2/3 of the eligible membership present and after review and approval by the Mayor and Council, which shall be able to veto any proposed bylaw modifications by a majority vote of the governing body. After approval and adoption as provided herein, the bylaws shall be forwarded by the Department to the Fire Commissioner, a copy of which shall also be filed with the Borough Clerk.
The line officers of the Fire Department shall be the Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant, as well as other line officers, as recommended by the Fire Chief, all of whom shall be elected by the members of the Department. The line officers of the Department are responsible to the Mayor and Council. The Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant must be approved by the Borough Council before taking office. In all cases where the approval of the line officer so elected is refused by the Borough Council, the existing line officers shall assume those responsibilities until an officer elected by the members of the Department has been approved by the Borough Council.
By Homeland Security Presidential Directive No. 5, "Management of Domestic Incidents," dated February 28, 2003, issued by the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2004, to provide a comprehensive and consistent national approach to all hazard incident management at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines, and by New Jersey Executive Order No. 50, adopted by the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus by NIMS resolution on January 23, 2007, line officers will have, as a minimum, the currently required perquisite ICS training. As of December 31, 2008, the ICS training requirements are listed below:
A. 
ICS-100: all first responders, the Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant.
B. 
ICS-200: all first line supervisors, the Chief, Assistant Chief and Captain. Classroom delivery of ICS-200 is required for the Division of Fire Safety Incident Management System.
C. 
ICS-300: all incident commanders, the Fire Chief, Assistant Chief and Captain (i.e., all those individuals with overall responsibility or who may assume overall responsibility for commanding operations on an incident scene or coordinating the resources at an EOC).
D. 
ICS-400: advanced ICS command and general staff, agency administrators with incident command responsibility, Department heads, emergency managers, areas commander and Multi-Agency Coordination System/Emergency Operations Center managers.
[Amended 3-28-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-79]
A. 
In addition to such disciplinary process as may be provided under the Volunteer Fire Department's bylaws, and notwithstanding the same, the Fire Commissioner of the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus shall have the right to expel or suspend any firefighter or line officer as set forth below.
B. 
In event of any accusation of any allegation of misconduct, violation of Borough ordinance, or action affecting the health, safety or welfare of the residents of the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus by any member or line officer, any person may issue a written complaint, which shall be referred to the Fire Commissioner or his designee. The Fire Commissioner, or his designee, shall review the matter and may proffer charges against such member seeking his expulsion or removal.
C. 
Upon proffering such charges, the Fire Commissioner shall provide such member or line officer with notice of the charges and an opportunity to provide a written response to the charges. The Fire Commissioner shall thereafter recommend sustaining, not sustaining, or modifying the charges, without a further hearing. Any member or line officer shall have no greater rights than an at-will, nonpaid volunteer, and nothing herein shall be read to provide any greater rights to such member or line officer.
D. 
If any charges are sustained or modified, the Fire Commissioner shall inform the Borough Council, which shall determine whether to suspend or expel such member or line officer from the Fire Department, or take such other action as it deems appropriate, without a further hearing.
E. 
Notwithstanding the above, the Fire Commissioner may immediately suspend any member or line officer prior to receiving the member's written response, should he deem such suspension in the best interest for the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus.
F. 
In the event of any conflict between the Volunteer Fire Department's bylaws and this chapter, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
When the Fire Chief "red tags" a firefighter for noncompliance with firematic regulations, he or she is not eligible to participate in any firefighter activities until the "red tag" status has been removed by the Fire Chief. When a firefighter is not eligible to participate in activities that would normally yield VIP credit, he or she cannot be given credit for those activities until eligibility has been reinstated by the removal of the "red tag" status.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief to report to the Fire Commissioner and Borough Council at the first meeting in each month the overall condition of the Department, including the fire apparatus and all other matters the Fire Chief or the Borough shall deem advisable.
Each member of the Department shall, on signing the roll, be entitled to receive a badge and certificate of membership signed by the Mayor, Fire Commissioner, and President of the Department. The firefighter badge shall remain the property of the Department and shall be surrendered upon the resignation, suspension or expulsion of any member.
The services of the members of the Fire Department shall be voluntary and without formal compensation, other than clothing allowances and volunteer incentive programs (VIP) administered by the Borough to all eligible members.
The Borough Council shall have the right to alter or amend this article at any time, as it shall deem advisable.
[Amended 10-23-2012 by Ord. No. 1011]
There is hereby established as part of the Fire Department of the Borough a Junior Firefighters Auxiliary in accordance with all the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:14-95 through 40A:14-98, inclusive, and the qualifications for membership in the auxiliary shall be as follows:
A. 
Any person between the ages of 16 and 21 being a resident of the Borough in good standing and of good moral character or a child of any senior member shall be eligible for membership in the Junior Firefighters Auxiliary.
[Amended 11-24-2015 by Ord. No. 1043]
B. 
Membership shall be conditioned upon acceptance by the Fire Department, subject to the approval of the Borough Council, and, upon such approval, the member shall sign the membership roll, which shall be kept by the Borough Clerk, and the member shall promise to perform all the duties of a junior firefighter as prescribed by the Department bylaws, the rules of the Fire Department and the ordinances of the Borough. Every member of the Junior Firefighters Auxiliary shall be required to obtain permission to join the Auxiliary from their parents or guardians, and such permission shall be in writing, acknowledged or proved in the manner provided by law for deeds to real estate.