Any member of the Paramus Volunteer Fire Department who shall respond to 40% of the alarms for which the fire company to which he/she is assigned is dispatched during any one calendar month shall be entitled to an additional allowance previously fixed by the Mayor and Council, in the amount equal to $400 per month effective October 1, 2008. Effective April 1, 2009, the monthly allowance will be equal to $450 per month. Effective January 1, 2010, the monthly allowance will be equal to $500 per month. Effective July 1, 2018, the monthly allowance will be equal to $600 per month. Effective January 1, 2019, the monthly allowance will be equal to $700 per month. Effective January 1, 2020, the monthly allowance will be equal to $800 per month. In addition, to be eligible to receive the monthly allowance each member must attend a minimum of six (6) Monday-night training sessions each quarter with their company or squad, exclusive of the monthly company meeting night. Should any member be unavailable to attend a training session due to a conflict with their work schedule they will be afforded the opportunity to attend a make-up session to be coordinated with the company or squad Captain or Chief. In addition, any member attending an approved training class at the Bergen County Fire Academy, Bergen County EMS Training Center, or any other official training center will be afforded credit for the monthly training requirement in the month they attend the classes. Advance permission from the company or squad Captain or Chief will be required for members to receive credit for attending outside training classes. The accumulated moneys for each of the three months in each quarter shall be paid to the member at the first pay period for the following month. For example, stipends earned from July 1 to September 30 will be paid on the last Mayor and Council meeting of October; stipends earned from October 1 to December 31 will be paid on the last Mayor and Council meeting of January, etc.
During the month of January of each succeeding year, the Mayor and Council will review the allowance provisions contained in this Part 2 and make any changes it shall deem necessary.
The payments set forth in § 47-35 above shall constitute reimbursement for various expenses which may be incurred by the members of the Fire Department in the faithful performance of their duties and shall not be considered as salary, nor shall such payments be considered to in any way construe the creating of a paid or partially paid Fire Department within the Borough of Paramus.
All members of the Paramus Volunteer Fire Department shall continue to, regardless of the number of actual alarms responded to, be entitled to the yearly clothing allowance as is fixed yearly by the Mayor and Council, under the present percentage calculating method for this reimbursement.
A.
Upon satisfactory completion of a member's first year of service, commonly known as the "probation year," the Paramus Fire Department will issue the following items in lieu of the member's first year's clothing allowance: one dress and parade uniform as approved by the Mayor and Council.
B.
This will have no effect on any member who has completed over one year of service in good standing.
The Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department shall institute a verification procedure for the verification of attendance which shall be approved annually by the governing body. Such procedure shall include but shall not be limited to a requirement that each fire fighter personally sign a roster or an approved witnessed absentee roster at the completion of and after each alarm indicating his or her attendance at such alarm, with such signatures to be witnessed by the officer in charge of the respective fire company; each member of the Volunteer Fire Department shall maintain on file a specimen of his/her signature; and the forms utilized in recording the attendance for each call shall be subject to the random and periodic audit under the direction of the Borough Administrator; and that each fire fighter that responds to a call with a company other than the one to which he/she is assigned shall be entitled to and granted credit for one alarm, provided that a completed record of attendance form is witnessed by the officer in charge of that call. These verification procedures will affect all members of the Volunteer Fire Department with the exception of the chief officers of the Department who, by virtue of their position within the Department, will not be subject to the verification of each call responded to within the confines of the Borough of Paramus, as many times they are required to remain at a call/alarm for extended periods of time and the verification procedures presently under consideration would not and could not become applicable. Chief officers will be responsible to the Borough Administrator to verify their attendance at each call if their names do not appear on the attendance roster.
No member of the Volunteer Fire Department shall be entitled to any payment hereunder until he/she shall first have executed a waiver to be prepared under the direction of the office of the Borough Clerk, waiving any and all claim to pension, civil service or employment status of any kind whatsoever as a result of receiving payment under the provisions of this Part 2.
The Chief of the Paramus Volunteer Fire Department shall biannually report the effect of such payments on the membership and attendance and such other information as may be directed by the Mayor and Council regarding the operation of the program on the volunteer fire-fighting force and the Volunteer Fire Department as a unit.