The fire substation in Newtown Township.
File photo
Just a few weeks after Newtown Township Manager Kurt Ferguson proposed ending a century old fire services agreement with the Newtown Fire Association (NFA), the township has instead announced a one-year extension of their agreement scheduled to originally end December 31, 2017.
Newtown Township supervisors announced their plans this week after Ferguson’s proposal was met with much criticism by residents and volunteers of the NFA at their meeting in late October. The township, despite having a small paid department, has relied on fire service from the NFA for 127 years. The township’s department currently has eight staff members and a chief and supplements the NFA for 60 hours a week.
Kyle Davis, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, announced that the current deal between the township and the NFA has been extended from 2017 to 2018, in an effort to prepare a new agreement to address issues between all involved parties; including Newtown Borough. The idea of extending the agreement was allegedly decided during a commission type meeting between the township, borough and association – which supervisors had suggested last month.
“We would like to thank the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors and Newtown Township Manager for carefully evaluating how to best protect the safety of the Newtown community,” the fire company said in a statement on their website.
Ferguson’s proposal originally began as discussion for the township’s 2017 budget got underway. Ferguson announced a proposal to set money aside to transition the township from using the NFA to providing its own fire services with help from a new, smaller volunteer department as well as the current paid firefighters. The plan would have allegedly cut the $300,000 yearly paid by the township to the NFA
At a recent township meeting, Ferguson said previous discussions with the NFA about response times, volunteers, regional partners, equipment evaluations, and equipment had also been met with resistance; while NFA President Will Fabian alleged that the fire association would “continue to be open to new ideas, joint collaboration, and changes made in the best interest of the residents of Newtown.”
