[Ord. No. 2020-495, 6/4/2020]
There is hereby created within the Township of Cranberry, Butler
County, Pennsylvania, a Department of Fire and Emergency Services
which shall be responsible for the coordination of services rendered
by the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company, the Emergency Management
Agency, Cranberry Township Emergency Medical Services (CTEMS) and
any successor agency providing emergency services to Cranberry Township.
[Ord. No. 2020-495, 6/4/2020]
The Board of Supervisors may appoint a Chief of DFES who shall
be the chief administrative and operations officer of the Department.
The Chief of DFES shall report to the Township Manager or their designee.
[Ord. No. 2020-495, 6/4/2020]
The Chief of DFES shall have all powers and duties assigned
to him/her by the Township Manager and pursuant to Section 1803 of
the Second Class Township Code, provided that nothing contained herein shall affect the
current corporate status of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire
Company (CTVFC) and Cranberry Township Emergency Medical Services
(CTEMS), as independent, nonprofit corporate entities. The Chief of
DFES duties may include:
1. The Chief of DFES shall be in charge of the buildings, fire apparatus,
program delivery, conduct, training, and operations including incident
command at emergency incidents when determined necessary by the Chief
of DFES, of all fire and emergency service operations in the Township.
2. The Chief of DFES shall be responsible for developing and administering
the budget for all fire- and emergency-related services and shall
maintain financial control of such funds, subject to the financial
practices of the Township, including funds budgeted for the operations
of CTVFC.
3. The Chief of DFES will develop and track emergency incident response
metrics, including the establishment of response metric goals, and
report the same to the Township Manger on a quarterly basis.
4. The Chief of DFES may establish such programs or activities deemed
necessary to meet emergency response metric goals and/or to improve
volunteer response to emergency incidents. The Chief of DFES will
work with CTVFC to encourage recruitment and retention of members.
5. The Chief of DFES, in consultation with the CTVFC Board of Directors,
is authorized to develop and to enforce Standard Operating Guidelines
(SOGs), rules, regulations, procedures and practices for fire operations
within the Township and which shall be binding on the operational
aspects of CTVFC. To the extent other regulations promulgated by CTVFC
are inconsistent with the SOGs, rules, regulations, procedures or
practices, the Chief of DFES shall engage the CTVFC Board of Directors
to resolve the differences, in the event DFES and CTVFC are unable
to resolve the differences, the Township Manager, or their designee,
shall be engaged to resolve the differences.
6. The Chief of DFES shall work collaboratively with the CTVFC Board
of Directors to develop and implement progressive discipline procedures
including an appeals process for violations of DFES's SOGs, rules,
regulations and/or practices, which shall include the ability of identified
personnel to suspend CTVFC members charged with an infraction. Discipline
shall include temporary or permanent suspension from use of any Township
property, facilities, equipment or any fire-related apparatus.