[Adopted 10-17-2018 by Ord. No. 13-2018]
The Borough Council of the Borough of West Chester (the "Borough") is hereby authorized to enter into an intermunicipal fire services agreement (the "agreement") with Birmingham Township, East Bradford Township, Thornbury Township, Chester County, West Goshen Township and Westtown Township in accordance with the terms and conditions authorized by this article and set forth in the agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and is incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, the appropriate officers of the Borough are hereby authorized to do whatever is necessary and appropriate to carry out the provisions of the agreement and this article, and to comply with the purposes and intent of the agreement and this article.
The agreement is conditioned upon each Township's governing body enacting an ordinance which authorizes such municipalities to execute the agreement.
The term of the agreement shall commence at 12:00 midnight on January 1, 2019, and, unless earlier terminated by the Borough as to a given township pursuant to Section 2.C. of the agreement, shall terminate at 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2023.
The purposes and objectives of the agreement are to authorize the Fire Department to provide fire protection services to certain portions of each of the Townships and to establish the respective municipality's share of the cost of such fire services.
The fire protection services which will be provided by the Fire Department pursuant to the agreement shall be shared and paid for by the respective municipalities in accordance with the payment terms specified in paragraph 2 of the agreement.
Each municipality that enters the agreement is governed by an elected governing body who shall oversee the implementation and enforcement of the agreement. Moreover, the Borough has established a Police and Fire Committee which oversees the Fire Department's operation. The agreement contemplates that each Township shall appoint not more than two delegates to serve on the Police and Fire Committee.
The Fire Department or the constituent fire companies that comprise the Fire Department shall own all real property and personal property used for the provision of fire services pursuant to the agreement.
The Borough and Fire Department are empowered to enter into contracts for policies of group insurance and employee benefits for any employees of the Fire Department.