October 7, 2021 Worcester Township Board of Supervisors Special Meeting

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[0:14] that's better uh good evening folks and welcome to the
[0:18] uh thursday october 7th 2021. i guess you call it a special
[0:24] meeting of the board of supervisors if you please join me in saying the pledge
[0:26] of allegiance
[0:34] is
[0:45] i'm going to dispense with the attendance i think everybody knows
[0:48] everybody tonight um
[0:50] first and foremost does anybody have any informational items for the board
[0:54] tonight this evening's meeting is being video recorded for rebroadcast
[0:59] thank you tommy first item on our agenda tonight is public comment we do ask that
[1:03] you limit your public comment to five minutes does anybody have public comment
[1:08] for the board tonight
[1:11] okay saying none we will move along we've only got a couple of action items
[1:15] tonight the first item is going to be a resolution
[1:19] 2021-27 that's going to be a motion to approve financing of apparatus for the
[1:23] warchester volunteer fire department as folks know we authorized a down payment
[1:29] for a vehicle last month we've talked about it for a
[1:33] few months and this particular item pertains specifically to the financing
[1:37] and i'm going to ask tommy just to give us just a quick high-level snapshot of
[1:41] what we're contending with tonight
[1:44] uh the fire department is seeking certain uh tax-exempt financing under
[1:48] the irs code the governing body
[1:53] must ratify their status of a non-profit in order to get that financing
[2:01] thank you tommy does any board member have any questions comments concerns
[2:05] with regards to the information pertaining to this we of course think
[2:09] it's a great idea to get any discount that you can conceivably get so
[2:13] certainly i think in general we're always supportive of that but does
[2:16] anybody have any questions or comments not that we're moving forward on the
[2:19] fire apparatus and they're getting their discount by ordering it early so i think
[2:23] we're doing the right thing
[2:30] steve any questions comments concerns no sir i think we've addressed all of it
[2:34] before excellent then i'll entertain a motion
[2:36] if someone wants to make one make a motion for the resolution 2021-27
[2:41] will approve financing for the opportune volunteer fire department
[2:45] and i'll second that motion okay it's been moved and seconded is there any
[2:49] public comment regarding the motion on the floor
[2:53] seeing none i'll call the question all those in favor
[2:56] aye motion passes so the next item is going to be a motion
[3:00] that's going to increase the township contribution to warcester volunteer fire
[3:04] department for the purchase of the apparatus so just the mechanics of it is
[3:08] we authorized a percentage um of 60 on the down payment and because
[3:15] they've saved a little bit of money the conversation is to
[3:19] have to adjust our percentage that we're allocating
[3:24] from 60 to 62 so that they can hold on to
[3:29] the money that they're saving and put that back into the
[3:33] fire department i think i said that correctly i hope i did
[3:36] i don't know if anybody has any thoughts or comments on that
[3:46] chairman once again i think the fire company does a great job the ladies
[3:48] auxiliary do a great job and anything the township can do
[3:52] to help them not drain their finances so they can be physically
[3:56] uh viable and have money for other things they want to do
[4:00] i think it's important for the township to step forward and help them any way we
[4:05] can and i think with this motion it'll do
[4:08] that so i have no problem with it
[4:12] okay lou any comments the only comment is i
[4:15] think we're we're uh fully funding the fire department and we
[4:19] uh the taxpayers pay the taxes and we're fully funding
[4:22] the fire department i stand behind it 100 so i think we're
[4:26] on on the right track certainly i think i think we're all in agreement on that
[4:30] we've talked a lot about um the asset that we think that the volunteer fire
[4:34] department is and and we have we're fortunate enough frankly to have some
[4:38] opportunities where we can put our money where our mouth is and and i think um
[4:42] just over the last several years we've i i think the number is around 1.4 million
[4:47] uh that we've contributed in various ways we obviously authorized
[4:55] some of the highlights thanks lou i don't know if you got that
[4:58] or not but pretty informative it is and it talks so
[5:02] 1.375 so i overstated it i'm a politician it was 1.375 as opposed to
[5:07] 1.4 so you have to dock me on that but um those were the figures in terms of
[5:13] straight contributions we've we've obviously talked about the apparatus
[5:16] which we think you know that those are big dollars but there we're
[5:20] frankly you know you talk a lot about win wins and relationships and this is
[5:24] when we still think we're getting a good deal you know in terms of um what the
[5:29] true cost of ownership is for a fire department and and what we're able to
[5:32] contribute um we're proud of those dollars but there's still i think we're
[5:37] still um on the right side of that we've allocated and i i actually have to thank
[5:42] our staff uh it wasn't always the case i know paul you can you can certainly
[5:46] relate to this is that there wasn't always a smooth relationship with our
[5:50] board in the past sometimes with the fire department and we just this
[5:54] particular uh group i know has said many times we think that's a mistake you know
[5:59] that's a mistake just from uh what the value is to our community
[6:05] with the fire department and tommy and the staff have gotten
[6:11] more organized in terms of saying this is going to be the capital contributions
[6:15] you can anticipate and i think we i'll check my numbers so i won't
[6:18] overstate it but a hundred thousand a year um and then some operating money
[6:23] and uh i know we meet with you guys regularly to make sure that when those
[6:27] big expenses we had the issue with the um
[6:30] i'm gonna draw our blank on it but with the radios at one point was you know
[6:34] almost a couple hundred thousand dollars uh just hey guess what you got to spend
[6:38] the money so we want to make sure we're aware of those things we're allocating
[6:42] the money um i think we've done a good job but i also
[6:45] you know the reality is is we want to set that up as just a recurring thing
[6:49] every year the money goes you guys take care of it and are good stewards with
[6:53] the money appropriately and we make sure that we're we're keeping you know we're
[6:57] anticipating expense issues and getting them out in front we're fortunate as a
[7:01] community we have the money to do that and i think those are good dollars to
[7:04] spend always so i would agree and we'll certainly entertain a motion if somebody
[7:09] would like to make it so that we make sure that the savings you're getting
[7:13] goes back into the fire department so we're going to make a motion to increase
[7:18] the chance of contribution to the worcestershire volunteer fire department
[7:22] uh for the purchasing apparatus i guess say to increase it to 62 percent because
[7:26] that was the term yeah i think that's fine i said i think that's fine as the
[7:29] motion all right i'll second that motion okay
[7:33] it's been moved in seconded any public comment regarding the motion on the
[7:36] floor seeing none i'll call the question all
[7:39] those in favor aye motion passes
[7:44] next up is other business does anybody have any other business they wish to
[7:48] bring before the board tonight i do not
[7:52] yes sir excellent we'll move forward to public comment does anybody have any
[7:57] final public comment they'd like to make tonight
[8:00] before the board paul
[8:03] um if you just come so we can get you on the recording
[8:08] as chairman of the board of trustees for the warchester volunteer fire department
[8:12] i just want to thank you for the continued
[8:15] support of the fire department we recognize that
[8:19] we couldn't do the job we do without your help
[8:22] and we hope that you know you understand that we're here for you this township we
[8:28] are the townships fire department and we intend to stay the fire departments
[8:32] the townships fire department and in good standing we have a uh a growing
[8:38] cadre of manpower and our equipment is uh is is top notch
[8:44] and uh we appreciate your support thank you very much you're very welcome paul
[8:50] anybody else have any public comment for the board tonight
[8:55] once again hate to be the dead horse but paul once again we'll be holding you
[8:58] folks we represent the township and the township residents
[9:02] you know this is their money and we're the stewards of it and
[9:07] we're all working together but volunteers are hard to come by
[9:11] anywhere and we really really appreciate i think rick has said that but i just
[9:15] want to reiterate it again that the whole board feels that way that anything
[9:19] we do to help the firehouse we're willing to do that because you are such
[9:22] a big part of the community and you know it keeps our a safe
[9:27] community we thank you for that
[9:32] okay seeing no additional public comment then motion to adjourn
[9:52] you