[Ord. No. 2017-63' amended 1-31-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-1]
(a) Members and associate members. No person shall become a member or
associate member of the Princeton fire department, unless said person
shall meet the following qualifications:
(1) Maintain a principal residence within a fifteen-mile radius of 363
Witherspoon Street. An individual who is available to respond to fires
during their regular work hours by virtue of employment within said
fifteen-mile radius shall be exempt from meeting this residency requirement.
Individuals who were members of the department as of June 10, 1982,
shall be recognized as members of said department as defined herein
and need not comply at any time with any residency requirements provided
for herein. For good cause shown, the mayor and council may waive
the residency requirement.
(2) Be at least 18 years of age.
(3) Be in good health, to be evidenced by a certificate to that effect
by a licensed physician of the State of New Jersey who has been chosen
by Princeton.
(4) Be eligible for and accepted for coverage under that certain group
accident insurance policy issued to the department through Princeton
and any renewal or replacement thereof.
(b) Paid members.
(1) All paid members of the fire department shall be appointed by the
council.
(2) No person shall be appointed to serve as a paid member of the Princeton
fire department, unless at the time of appointment the person shall
meet the qualifications set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:14-9, N.J.S.A. 40A:14-42
and N.J.S.A. 40A:14-44, as applicable, and as may be amended. Every
appointee shall, at a minimum:
a. Be a citizen of the United States;
b. Be a resident of New Jersey;
c. Be sound in body and of good health sufficient for eligibility in
the police and firemen's retirement system of New Jersey or public
employees' retirement system of New Jersey, as appropriate;
d. Have a high school diploma or an equivalency certificate and shall
be able to read, write and speak the English language well and intelligently;
e. Be of good moral character;
f. Not have been convicted of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude;
and
g. Be between twenty-one and forty years of age at the time of appointment,
except as may be permitted by law or regulation.
(3) Appointment to the position of paid member shall be filled by a member
or associate member of the department who has served as an active
firefighter for at least two (2) years next preceding the appointment
or by an exempt firefighter of the department; if no such member or
associate member or exempt firefighter is available for appointment,
then the appointment may be made to any qualified person. Whether
a member or associate member qualifies as an "active firefighter"
shall be established by the director through written policy.
(4) The council shall hire such number of paid members as it deems necessary to serve the needs of the Princeton fire department. There shall be such quantity of lieutenant(s), captain(s), battalion chief(s), deputy assistant chief(s) and/or chief(s) from the paid membership as the director shall determine, each of whom shall be appointed in accordance with the SOGs, personnel policies and requirements for promotion set forth in section 8-8A below. The selection procedures set forth in Article
III, Line Officers, Articles
V and
VI, Fire Chiefs, and Article
VIII, Drivers, of this chapter are intended, and shall continue, to apply to the selection of officers from the regular (and if eligible, associate) membership and not paid membership.
(5) Paid members shall receive such compensation as shall be prescribed
by the council in the annual salary ordinance.
[Ord. No. 2017-63; amended 1-31-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-1]
Before an applicant is accepted for regular, associate or paid
membership into the department and enters upon the duties connected
with said department, said applicant shall take an oath to perform
the duties of a member or paid member, as appropriate, of the Princeton
fire department, to obey the officers of the Princeton fire department
and to comply in all respects with provisions of this chapter, the
Princeton Code and rules and regulations concerning the conduct of
the Princeton fire department. Each member, associate member and paid
member shall sign an affidavit provided by the Princeton clerk confirming
receipt of a full copy of the fire department's then current Standard
Operating Guidelines.
[Ord. No. 2017-63; amended 1-31-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-1]
(a) Upon entering the Princeton fire department each new regular and
associate member shall, within an eighteen-month period, complete
and pass a Firefighter I course or equivalent as well as any other
New Jersey State mandated courses. The director of emergency and safety
services with the concurrence of the chief may grant an extension
of this period only where completion of the course within this time
period is not possible due to changes in the schedule of course offering
or some other extenuating circumstance.
(b) All members must pass the Firefighter I or a New Jersey State approved
program and any other mandated courses and training to remain a firefighting
member of the department; any member who does not complete this training
within the specified time shall become one of the non-firefighting
types of member listed in section 8-7(e).
(c) As a
condition of employment, a paid member shall, within eighteen months
of his or her appointment, complete and pass a Firefighter I course
or equivalent as well as any other New Jersey State mandated courses.
[Ord. No. 2017-63]
Any person who shall have served as a member of the department
and who has met the quota requirements of the New Jersey State Fireman's
Association may, upon application, be retired from active service
upon the vote of the company of which that person is a member.
[Added 1-31-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-1]
(a) The
promotion of a paid member to a superior position as defined in subsection
8-4(b) above shall be made from the membership of such paid members
and in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:14-29, the applicable personnel
policies and SOGs.
(b) The
line of authority for paid members shall be as set forth in this chapter
and the SOGs.