The Fire Department of the Borough, as heretofore created and established, is hereby continued.
The members of the Fire Department shall consist of a Chief, an Assistant Chief, a Deputy Chief and such other fire fighters as are provided for hereinafter.
The Councilperson designated by the Borough Council as the liaison for the Fire Department shall be known as the "Fire Commissioner." The Fire Commissioner may attend all meetings of the Fire Department and have the privilege of the floor but shall not have a vote.
The uniformed force of the Fire Department shall consist of a Chief, an Assistant Chief, a Deputy Chief and as many other officers and fire fighters as are or may be approved and appointed by the Mayor and Council.
A. 
Membership in any volunteer fire company shall be open to all persons under the age of 70 who are 18 years or older and who are able to perform the duties of volunteer fire fighters, without discrimination on the basis of an applicant's race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, familial status, gender, physical handicap or any other status that is protected by any applicable state or federal law and who are otherwise qualified for membership as set forth in this section.
B. 
Each company shall establish objective qualifications for membership which relate directly and solely to the physical and technical ability and character fitness of an applicant to perform the duties of a volunteer fire fighter.
C. 
As a condition for membership and continued membership in the volunteer fire companies, each member shall be a resident of the Borough of Maywood or a nonresident of the Borough of Maywood who is employed by the Borough of Maywood and has a current New Jersey State Fire Fighter's certification. A person may also qualify as a nonresident member if he or she is an active member in good standing who moves out of the Borough of Maywood to a bordering municipality and who maintains his or her primary residence within one driving mile of the border of the Borough of Maywood. Further, a person may also qualify as a nonresident if he or she resides within a contiguous municipality that does not have its own volunteer fire department and is within the one-driving-mile constraint cited above.
[Amended 5-26-2015 by Ord. No. 5-15]
A. 
The Board of Fire Officers shall supply the Borough Clerk and each fire company with membership application forms. Applicants for membership may obtain applications from either the Board of Fire Officers, a fire company or the Borough Clerk. The forms shall state that the applications may be filed, either by personal delivery or by mail, with the designated officer of the company whose mailing address shall appear on the application or directly to the Board of Fire Officers.
B. 
The officer designated to receive applications shall date each application with the date of receipt.
C. 
The Board of Fire Officers shall determine which company has the greatest need and submit the application to the company secretary or designated officer if the applicant has not indicated a company preference.
A. 
Each company shall establish a Membership Committee consisting of not more than 10 members which shall be responsible for evaluating applications for membership and shall, within 60 days of receipt of an application by the company, make a report to the company as to whether or not the applicant is qualified for membership, subject to the approval of the Mayor and Council. The Committee's decision shall be binding on the company and no vote of the membership shall be conducted on the issue of whether an applicant shall be qualified for admission to membership.
B. 
The Membership Committee shall report to the Board of Fire Officers the names of applicants found to be qualified for membership, and such applicants shall be referred to the Mayor and Council by the Board of Fire Officers for approval to membership, subject to the existence of a vacancy. If at any time the number of applicants found to be qualified exceeds the number of current vacancies, the name of a qualified applicant shall be added to a waiting list for consideration by the Mayor and Council.
C. 
If the Membership Committee determines that an applicant does not meet the minimum requirements for membership, the Board of Fire Officers shall promptly advise the applicant, in writing, of its findings and the reasons therefor, together with a notice that such findings may be appealed to the Mayor and Council.
D. 
A newly appointed member shall serve a probationary period of reasonable duration, not to exceed one year. During such period, and at the conclusion thereof, each probationary member shall be evaluated by the officers of the company who supervise the probationary member in the performance of his or her duties. The Board of Fire Officers may recommend to the Mayor and Council the dismissal of any member during the probationary period or the extension of the probationary period if the applicant fails to perform the established duties of a probationary member in a reasonably satisfactory manner, or other good cause, and may do so by notifying the probationary member, in writing, of his or her evaluation and the particular reason therefor. If at the end of the probationary period said supervising officers shall determine that the applicant has satisfactorily performed the duties of a probationary member, then such supervising officers shall report such determination to the Board of Fire Officers and the Board of Fire Officers shall promptly recommend to the Mayor and Council that he or she be appointed to full membership. No vote of the membership shall be conducted on the issue of whether any probationary member shall continue as a probationary member or shall be appointed to full membership.
E. 
The names of all persons recommended for membership or probationary membership, as well as any applicants or probationary members who are denied full membership, shall be submitted to the Mayor and Council by the Board of Fire Officers and shall be subject to approval by the Mayor and Council.
The Board of Fire Officers shall designate one of the Chiefs to oversee the maintenance of fire apparatus.
The Department shall be divided into three companies, each to consist of not more than 25 members, no more than three of whom shall be nonresidents.
Transfer of membership from one company to another may be made in the following manner:
A. 
Any member desiring to transfer his membership from one company to another shall present to the Board of Fire Officers a letter, signed by the Captains and Secretaries of both companies, showing the consent of each company to the transfer. Upon receipt of such letter, the Board of Fire Officers shall permit or deny such transfer, subject to approval of the Mayor and Council.
B. 
Should the Board of Fire Officers, or the Mayor and Council in consultation with the Board of Fire Officers, consider that the interests of the Borough will be best served by the transfer of one or more fire fighters to another company, the Board of Fire Officers with the approval of the Mayor and Council, or the Mayor and Council on its own initiative, may do so, provided that there are sufficient vacancies in the company to which the transfers are to be made.
Companies may be disbanded in the following manner:
A. 
Upon the written request to the Mayor and Council of a majority of the duly qualified members of any company, said company may be disbanded by order of the Mayor and Council; or
B. 
Should the Mayor and Council consider at any time that the interests of the Borough will be best served by the disbandment of any or all of the fire companies, either for neglect of duty or disobedience of orders or for any other cause or in the interest of economy, it may do so upon 30 days' notice having previously been given to the secretaries of such companies.
All resignations from the Department shall be referred to the Mayor and Council for approval.