[Adopted 9-28-2003 by Ord. No. 354]
The President and Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Upper Pottsgrove Township are authorized to enter into separate intergovernmental cooperation emergency assistance mutual aid agreements with the Borough of Pottstown, West Pottsgrove Township, and Douglass Township (Berks County), for the purpose of providing reciprocal emergency assistance by and between the parties to the respective agreements, all in accordance with the Intergovernmental Cooperation Law, 53 P.S. §§ 481-490.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2301 et seq.
The intergovernmental cooperation being provided for herein shall be achieved by means of intergovernmental cooperation emergency assistance mutual aid agreements entered into between Upper Pottsgrove Township and the Borough of Pottstown, West Pottsgrove Township, and Douglass Township (Berks County), respectively, and shall contain the following:
A. 
Provisions that the parties shall agree to furnish emergency services, as defined in Section 102 of the Emergency Management Services Code, 35 Pa.C.S.A. § 7102, as amended, to each other upon request, on a nonreimbursable basis.
B. 
Provisions that the agreement shall apply to the following circumstances and/or situations:
(1) 
The dispatch of emergency services equipment and/or personnel by any municipality in response to the occurrence of the threat of a man-made, natural, or war-caused disaster;
(2) 
The distribution of materials, supplies, equipment, and other forms of aid between the municipalities;
(3) 
The staffing and equipping of an emergency operations center responsible for coordinating the emergency response activities of any of the municipalities affected by an actual or imminent disaster emergency;
(4) 
The dispatch of emergency service equipment, materials, and/or personnel by either of the municipalities in response to a declaration of local disaster emergency declared by either of the municipalities;
(5) 
Response to incidents (actual or imminent and are clearly special emergency and not routine situations, i.e., routine fire-fighting services provided) which endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the public and which require the use of special equipment, trained personnel, or personnel in larger numbers than are locally available in order to reduce, counteract, or remove the danger caused by the incident;
(6) 
Participation in exercises, drills, or other training activities designed to train personnel to prepare for, cope with, or prevent the occurrence of any disaster emergency.
C. 
Provisions that any dispatch by either of the municipalities of emergency service equipment and/or personnel pursuant to the agreement shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:
(1) 
Any request for aid shall identify a representative of the responding organization, shall determine the amount and type of equipment, and the number of personnel to be furnished.
(2) 
The responding organizations shall report to the officer in charge of the requesting organization or his designee at the location to which the equipment and/or personnel are dispatched, but shall be subject to the orders and operational control of the responding organization's officer on the scene.
(3) 
The responding organization shall be released by the requesting organization when the services of the responding organization are no longer required, or when the responding organization is needed within its normal emergency services area.
D. 
Provisions that plan for the orderly evacuation and reception of evacuees of one municipality by the other municipality and its local emergency management service organization. Such plans shall include the manner of transporting evacuees, the number of evacuees to be received at different locations, the manner in which food, clothing, housing, and medical care will be provided, the registration of the evacuees, and all other relevant factors.
E. 
Provisions that the agreement shall become effective immediately upon its adoption by the respective municipality.
F. 
Provisions that the agreement shall continue in force and remain binding on each municipality until the governing body of a municipality takes action to withdraw therefrom. Such action shall not be effective until 30 days after a municipality desiring to withdraw provides written notice of the withdrawal to the other municipality that is a party to the agreement.