The Township hereby recognizes the authority of and authorizes the foregoing volunteer fire companies to recover the reasonable response costs as authorized by the Hazardous Material Emergency Planning and Response Act (35 P.S. § 6022.210) subject to the restrictions and procedures set forth in the Act.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Rapho as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-6-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-04]
The Township hereby recognizes the authority of and authorizes the foregoing volunteer fire companies to recover the reasonable costs involved in responding to motor vehicle incidents. The prospective schedule of such costs shall follow the current Lancaster County Fire Chief's Association Cost Recovery Fee Schedule for vehicle related incidents which is in effect at the time of the incident. The schedule of charges shall be uniform in application and shall be reasonably related to the costs actually incurred in manpower, materials and equipment.
The Township hereby recognizes the authority of and authorizes the foregoing volunteer fire companies to recover the replacement cost of destroyed or consumed equipment involved in fire fighting (i.e., damaged or destroyed hose, ladders, gear, etc).
Any such claim for reimbursement shall be made directly by the first due Fire Department to the person or entity responsible for the incident for which the response has been provided. The volunteer fire company may, in submitting a claim to such person or entity, submit a copy of such claim directly to any insurance company which the volunteer fire company may believe is responsible for covering all or a portion of the damages caused by such incident. The first due Fire Department will be responsible for submitting claims for all mutual aid fire departments involved in the incident and for distributing any revenue received to all mutual aid fire departments that participated in the incident. Such distribution shall occur on a quarterly basis.
All of the foregoing volunteer fire companies will utilize common computer software so that all companies will bill in a uniform fashion.
Although the Board of Supervisors encourages each volunteer fire company seeking reimbursement for such costs to attempt to settle any disputes as to the appropriateness of the charges by arbitration, mediation or other alternative dispute resolution method, the Board of Supervisors will not itself nor will it authorize any Township staff to be responsible for determining the appropriateness of any such reimbursement request.