[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of Colebrookdale Township 5-15-2017 by Ord. No. 2-2017. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following terms shall have the meanings set forth herein:
COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Commissioners for the Township of Colebrookdale, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
FIRE COMPANY
Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue, Inc., duly organized, acknowledged by and existing in the Township of Colebrookdale to provide emergency services in the Township.
INSURER or INSURANCE COMPANY
Every insurance company, association or exchange, incorporated or organized by or under the laws of this commonwealth, the United States, territories, dependencies, other states, or foreign governments, and engaged in transacting insurance business of any kind or classification, except title insurance companies.
PERSON
An individual, organization, corporation, partnership, government or government agency, department or political subdivision, business, trust, estate, association and any other legal or commercial entity.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Colebrookdale, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
The Township hereby authorizes the Fire Company to recover from insurance companies which provide coverage for automobiles or other property for damage from fire, accident, and other covered loss, the costs of the following materials and services, including, but not limited to, firefighting materials used and expended, the use of fire trucks, fire engines, rescue equipment and tankers, emergency medical supplies, and hazardous situation abatement materials used and expended in connection with any fire, safety rescue incident or operation, medical emergency, or hazardous situation abatement incident including vehicular accidents, fires and/or medical emergencies occurring within the Township or any other area in which the Fire Company is authorized by the Township to provide such emergency services.
The Fire Company fees, costs and expenses (collectively "charges") permitted to be recovered shall be as set forth in a resolution to be adopted by the Township with specific reference to this chapter. The Schedule of Fees, Costs and Expenses may be amended by resolution of the Commissioners from time to time. The charges shall at all times be those which are usual, customary and reasonable within the County of Berks.
All amounts collected by the Fire Company pursuant to this chapter shall be placed into a fund established by the Fire Company. The funds shall be utilized exclusively for supplies and equipment of the Fire Company utilized in providing fire and/or emergency services in the Township or any other area in which the Fire Company is authorized by the Township to provide such services.
Any insurer or insurance company who insures a person or persons who receive(s) firefighting, rescue, medical or other emergency service, or any combination of those services within the Township, shall be liable for the charges incurred by the Fire Company in providing said services to the insurance companies' insured.
The charges shall be recovered directly by the Fire Company by direct billing or by an attorney, collection service or other agency contracted with and by the Fire Company for the collection of such sums. In addition to the charges, the Fire Company shall also be authorized to collect reasonable interest and administration expenses involved in collecting said charges.
At the request of the Commissioners, the Fire Company shall provide the Commissioners an accounting of the charges, including, but not limited to, the charges charged and collected, the costs of collection of the charges billed, the fund into which the charges were deposited and expenditures from the fund. The Commissioners shall have the right to audit the accounting provided by the Fire Company or require the Fire Company to obtain an audit of the charges and fund and provide the Commissioners with a copy of the audit.
The Township shall not be responsible for any aspect of the recovery of charges imposed upon any person or insurance company under this chapter. The Township shall not take any steps to assist the Fire Company or any third-party billing service in recover of costs under this chapter.
The provisions of this chapter are severable, and if any provision, section, sentence, clause, or part of this chapter shall be held to be invalid, illegal, or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision of the court shall not affect or impair the remaining provisions, sections, sentences, clauses, or parts of this chapter. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Commissioners that the remainder of the chapter shall be and shall remain in full force and effect.
All existing ordinances or parts of ordinances which are contrary to the provisions of this chapter are hereby repealed to the extent necessary to give this chapter full force and effect.