[Adopted 12-18-1996 by Ord. No. 27-96 (Ch. 11, Part 1, of
the 1969 Code)]
There is hereby established in the Township of Morris a department
to be hereafter known as the "Township of Morris Fire Department,"
the object of which shall be the prevention of fire and the protection
of life and property within the limits of the Township of Morris.
The Fire Department shall consist of a Fire Chief, a Deputy
Fire Chief, two Battalion Fire Chiefs and as many Captains, Lieutenants
and other firemen deemed necessary under a table of organization required
for the proper operation of the Fire Department and such other officers
and employees as the Township Committee may hereafter deem proper
and by resolution designate. For the purpose of this article, there
shall be three Divisions within the organizational structure of the
Fire Department: Paid Division, Volunteer Division and Fire/Police
Warden Division.
Fingerprinting and background investigations of all applicants
for acceptance in the Fire Department of the Township of Morris shall
be conducted as follows:
A. Each applicant to the Township Fire Department shall furnish a classifiable
set of fingerprints to the Township Police Department.
B. The Police Department is authorized to conduct a field investigation
and directed to conduct a criminal records check on each applicant
for acceptance in the Fire Department.
C. The Police Department shall prepare a factual summary of the background
investigation and criminal records check of each applicant and transmit
such summary to the Fire Chief for the purpose of determining the
fitness of the applicant. The summary may contain recommendations
to the Fire Chief concerning the suitability for acceptance of an
applicant.
D. Any applicant for the Township Fire Department who is denied acceptance
on the basis of the investigation summary referred to in this section
may inspect that summary for the purpose of clarifying, explaining
or denying the accuracy of its contents.
Except as otherwise provided by law, no Department member or
officer of the Fire Department or force shall be removed from his
office, employment or position for political reasons or for any cause
other than incapacity, misconduct or disobedience of rules and regulations
established for the government of the Fire Department and force; nor
shall such member or officer be suspended, removed or reduced in rank
from or in office, employment or position therein except for just
cause, and then only on written charges and hearing in accordance
with state statutes and the rules and regulations of the Township
of Morris Fire Department; provided, however, that any Department
member of the Paid Division who is absent from duty without just cause
or leave of absence for a continuous period of five days shall cease
to be a member of the Township of Morris Fire Department.
All nouns and pronouns in the masculine gender utilized in this
article shall be construed to include the female gender.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with this
article are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistencies,
specifically Ordinance No. 28-78, Ordinance No. 36-78, Ordinance No.
5-82 and Ordinance No. 15-87.
[Adopted 10-18-2006 by Ord. No. 23-06; amended in its entirety 3-18-2009 by Ord. No.
4-09 (Ch. 11, Part 2, of the 1969 Code)]
The purpose of the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) is to reward
active volunteer members of the Township of Morris Fire Department
for their loyal, diligent and devoted services to the residents of
the Township of Morris.
Each fire company shall assign one company officer to be the
Fire Company Coordinator. The Fire Company Coordinator shall be the
link to the Department Program Coordinator. Attendance for activities
shall be tracked on forms provided by the Department at a company
level and forwarded to the Fire Department Coordinator on a monthly
basis for review and computation. The Company Coordinator shall post
the monthly reports on the company bulletin board.
Each active volunteer member shall be credited annually, on
December 31, with points for volunteer services provided to the Township
of Morris Fire Department in accordance with the following schedule:
A. Training courses: 25 points maximum.
(1) Courses less than 20 hours in duration: one point per hour, with
a maximum of five points.
(2) Courses of 20 to 45 hours in duration: five points, plus one point
per hour for each over the initial 20 hours, with a maximum of 10
points.
(3) Courses over 45 hours in duration: 15 points per course.
B. Drills: 24 points maximum.
(2) Minimum
two-hour Department-approved drill.
C. Elected or appointed positions: 25 points maximum.
(1) Completion of one-year term as a fire company line officer (Captain,
First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant) equals 25 points.
(2) Completion of one-year term as a fire company administrative representative
(President, Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary) equals 10 points.
Fire companies shall only submit three positions.
(3) An active volunteer firefighter elected to serve as a delegate to
a firefighters' convention shall also be eligible to receive one point
per meeting; five points maximum.
D. Qualified apparatus operators: 25 points maximum.
(1) Those Department members in driver training who have completed at
least half of the required training hours within the calendar year
shall receive 10 points.
(2) Qualified apparatus operators who qualify or requalify annually and
who also either drive to a minimum of five fire calls or continue
training of five hours per year shall receive 25 points.
E. Attendance at meetings: 12 points maximum.
(1) Attendance at fire company monthly meeting, one meeting per month.
F. Absence and military duty.
(1) In the Chief's discretion, credit may be given for drills or
meeting attendance to volunteers who missed specific drills and meetings
due to their sickness or unanticipated work requirements.
(2) Time shall be prorated for new members, starting with their entry
date.
(3) With respect to any volunteer who has been a volunteer for at least
one year and who is a member of the National Guard or Military Reserve,
in the event that such member is involuntarily called to active duty
or otherwise deployed by the Guard or Reserve (other than regular
monthly meetings and summer duties), said volunteer's points
earned shall be prorated upward to reflect the total which he would
have earned in a full year, had he been available. For example, if
a volunteer misses 47 days for guard duty and is therefore available
for only 318 days, his point total earned during his 318 days will
be multiplied by 365/318 to produce his adjusted score for the year.
G. Incident response: 100 points maximum. Incident response shall be
based on per company calls.
|
Responses
|
Award of Points
|
---|
|
91% to 100%
|
100
|
|
81% to 90%
|
90
|
|
71% to 80%
|
80
|
|
61% to 70%
|
70
|
|
51% to 60%
|
60
|
|
41% to 50%
|
50
|
|
31% to 40%
|
40
|
|
21% to 30%
|
30
|
|
10% to 20%
|
25
|
H. Miscellaneous activities: 10 points maximum.
(1) Community-based programs, three-children events: Easter egg hunt,
Halloween and Santa operations.
(2) Also included in miscellaneous activities shall be company fund-raising
events: fund drive, pancake breakfast, Christmas tree sales.
(3) Any other events shall have an application submitted to the Fire
Chief for approval prior to the event; a maximum of one point per
event.
I. Length of service with the Morris Township Fire Department: 15 points
maximum.
|
Years of Service
|
Award of Points
|
---|
|
0 to 5 years of service
|
0
|
|
6 to 15 years of service
|
1 point for each completed year of service
|
This VIP shall take effect January 1, 2009.