[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 1]
This Part shall be known as the "Morton-Rutledge Fire Company
Recovery Ordinance."
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 2]
All "Whereas"[1] clauses set forth above are hereby incorporated herein
as though the same were more fully set forth at length.
[1]
WHEREAS, Morton Borough Ord. 726 recognizes and designates
the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company as the officially recognized fire
company of the Borough of Morton; and
WHEREAS, the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company responds to hazardous
material incidents; and
WHEREAS, said responses, on occasion, involve the use of hazardous
materials abatement equipment, as well as hazardous materials abatement
materials; and
WHEREAS, the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company responds to other
safety and rescue incidents, including but not limited to, firefighting
and vehicular accidents; and
WHEREAS, it is the intention of the Borough Council to recognize
the authority of the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company to seek collection
and reimbursement for reasonable costs of responding to such incidents
from insurance companies; and
WHEREAS, the Borough Council finds that individual property
owners may maintain insurance coverage within their own casualty insurance
policies, homeowner's policies and/or other applicable policies
that would provide reimbursement to the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company
for firefighting and other services rendered to the individual property
owners and businesses in response to emergency service requests.
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 3]
The Morton-Rutledge Fire Company is authorized and directed
by and through their officers and authorized representatives, to ascertain
what insurance coverage may be applicable and available under any
given circumstance, and to take all necessary and affirmative steps
to apply for and receive reimbursement from any insurance carrier
where a property owner, or business owner, is or may be insured to
reimburse the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company for any costs and/or expenses
incurred for services, supplies and/or equipment used for or provided
to the property owner or business owner by the Morton-Rutledge Fire
Company.
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 4]
The Borough further authorizes the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company
to recover reasonable costs of firefighting for the firefighting materials
and equipment and hazardous abatement materials involved in any and
all hazardous abatement material incidents as are recoverable under
the Hazardous Material Emergency Planning and Response Act.
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 5]
However, and notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary,
under no circumstances shall any property owner receive a bill from
the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company for fire protection or other services
provided by the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company except in cases of false
alarms and/or fires which are intentionally set by the property owner.
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 6]
This Part shall be liberally construed to accomplish its purpose
to compensate and/or reimburse the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company from
insurance proceeds for costs and/or expenses incurred while providing
services pursuant to their duties for the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company.
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 8]
The costs and fees as outlined in this Part shall be recovered
directly by the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company by direct billing of
the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company by an attorney, collection service
or agency contracted by the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company. In addition
to the costs and fees as outlined in this Part, the Morton-Rutledge
Fire Company or any attorney or collection service or agency contracted
by the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company shall be authorized to collect
any reasonable interest and administration fees for collecting the
costs and fees.
[Ord. 726, 1/8/2014, § 9]
In the event any insurance carrier or person fails to pay any
bill or invoice within 30 days of the mailing or delivery of such
notice of charges, the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company or any attorney
or agency contracted by the Morton-Rutledge Fire Company who mailed
or delivered the bill or invoice may enforce the provisions of this
Part by filing a civil action at law in a court of competent jurisdiction
for the collection of any amounts due to the Morton-Rutledge Fire
Company together with statutory interest, court costs, collection
fees and reasonable attorney fees. The remedies provided herein shall
be in addition to any other relief, remedies or penalties that may
be appropriate or provided by law.
