Township of Potter, PA Chapter 90 Emergency Services

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Potter as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Hazardous wastes — See Ch. 102.

Article I Reimbursement for Response Costs

[Adopted 8-12-2013 by Ord. No. 4-2013]

§ 90-1 Incorporation by reference.

The recitals set forth herein are incorporated by reference.

§ 90-2 Definitions.

As used in the article, the following terms shall have the meanings as indicated:

EMERGENCY RESCUE

A. MOTOR VEHICLE Service provided by the Centre Hall Fire Company at the direction of Centre County Emergency Communications Center, Pennsylvania State Police or mutual aid request to secure or stabilize a scene of a motor vehicle accident. Service may include extrication of the occupants of the motor vehicle(s) involved in the accident by mechanical means.

B. NON-MOTOR VEHICLE Service provided by the Centre Hall Fire Company at the direction of Centre County Emergency Communications Center, Pennsylvania State Police or mutual aid request to locate and remove to safety missing person(s), vehicles, etc., whose whereabouts are unknown but whose conditions may be perilous or a threat to health or safety of the community.

PERSON

An individual, corporation, firm, association, public utility, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, and any legal successor, representative or agency of the foregoing.

VEHICLE

Any car, truck, van, railroad car, water vessel, airplane or other motorized or nonmotorized transportation vehicle.

§ 90-3 Liability for emergency rescue; invoice; failure to pay.

A. Any person, facility or vehicle owner/operator who shall be the recipient of emergency rescue services provided by the Centre Hall Fire Company shall be liable to the Centre Hall Fire Company for all response costs directly incurred by the Centre Hall Fire Company as the result of providing such emergency rescue services.

B. Response costs shall reflect the actual cost of providing personnel, equipment, fuel, materials, etc., as incurred by the Centre Hall Fire Company as a result of a release. Eligible response costs shall include rental/lease or purchase costs of materials or services as may be necessitated by the nature of the emergency rescue and replacement of nondurable materials expended as a result of providing emergency rescue service.

C. The Centre Hall Fire Company or its agent shall invoice for response costs incurred for any applicable occurrence, referenced herein, within 60 days of the final date of response relative to the occurrence. The responsible person/facility will be invoiced by certified mail or personal delivery by the Centre Hall Fire Company or its agent.

D. Any invoicing procedure, other than that which has been described herein, shall be subject to approval by the Centre Hall Borough Council.

E. In the event that an obligor fails to pay the statement for the response costs, the proper officers and officials of the fire company are hereby authorized to commence the appropriate civil action in order to effectuate a recovery of the same and may utilize the offices of the District Magistrate or the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County, Pennsylvania, in order to effectuate a recovery of response costs, proper interest and court costs.

§ 90-4 Authority to invoice.

The Fire Company shall have the authority to bill either an individual, corporation (profit or nonprofit), municipal subdivision, or insurance carrier for the same.

§ 90-5 Authority to invoice neighboring municipality.

The Fire Company shall have the authority to bill a neighboring municipality for the utilization of said tools, equipment and materials when utilization has been requested by said municipality regardless of whether the cause of said utilization has been an act of negligence.

§ 90-6 Violations and penalties.

Any person/facility who shall fail to comply with this article within 60 days of notification shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, together with the cost of prosecution, and in default of such fine and costs be sentenced to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 30 days.

§ 90-7 Failure to pay.

In the event that an obligor fails to pay the statement for tools, equipment and materials, the Fire Company is hereby authorized to commence the appropriate civil action in order to effectuate a recovery of the same and may utilize the offices of the District Magistrate or Civil Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County, Pennsylvania, in order to effectuate a recovery of the cost of the tools, equipment and materials, proper interest and court costs.