[Adopted 9-28-2003 by Ord. No. 354]
The President and Secretary of the Board of
Commissioners of Upper Pottsgrove Township are authorized to enter
into separate intergovernmental cooperation emergency assistance mutual
aid agreements with the Borough of Pottstown, West Pottsgrove Township,
and Douglass Township (Berks County), for the purpose of providing
reciprocal emergency assistance by and between the parties to the
respective agreements, all in accordance with the Intergovernmental
Cooperation Law, 53 P.S. §§ 481-490.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2301
et seq.
The intergovernmental cooperation being provided
for herein shall be achieved by means of intergovernmental cooperation
emergency assistance mutual aid agreements entered into between Upper
Pottsgrove Township and the Borough of Pottstown, West Pottsgrove
Township, and Douglass Township (Berks County), respectively, and
shall contain the following:
A.
Provisions that the parties shall agree to furnish
emergency services, as defined in Section 102 of the Emergency Management
Services Code, 35 Pa.C.S.A. § 7102, as amended, to each
other upon request, on a nonreimbursable basis.
B.
Provisions that the agreement shall apply to the following
circumstances and/or situations:
(1)
The dispatch of emergency services equipment and/or
personnel by any municipality in response to the occurrence of the
threat of a man-made, natural, or war-caused disaster;
(2)
The distribution of materials, supplies, equipment,
and other forms of aid between the municipalities;
(3)
The staffing and equipping of an emergency operations
center responsible for coordinating the emergency response activities
of any of the municipalities affected by an actual or imminent disaster
emergency;
(4)
The dispatch of emergency service equipment, materials,
and/or personnel by either of the municipalities in response to a
declaration of local disaster emergency declared by either of the
municipalities;
(5)
Response to incidents (actual or imminent and are
clearly special emergency and not routine situations, i.e., routine
fire-fighting services provided) which endanger the health, safety,
or welfare of the public and which require the use of special equipment,
trained personnel, or personnel in larger numbers than are locally
available in order to reduce, counteract, or remove the danger caused
by the incident;
(6)
Participation in exercises, drills, or other training
activities designed to train personnel to prepare for, cope with,
or prevent the occurrence of any disaster emergency.
C.
Provisions that any dispatch by either of the municipalities
of emergency service equipment and/or personnel pursuant to the agreement
shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:
(1)
Any request for aid shall identify a representative
of the responding organization, shall determine the amount and type
of equipment, and the number of personnel to be furnished.
(2)
The responding organizations shall report to the officer
in charge of the requesting organization or his designee at the location
to which the equipment and/or personnel are dispatched, but shall
be subject to the orders and operational control of the responding
organization's officer on the scene.
(3)
The responding organization shall be released by the
requesting organization when the services of the responding organization
are no longer required, or when the responding organization is needed
within its normal emergency services area.
D.
Provisions that plan for the orderly evacuation and
reception of evacuees of one municipality by the other municipality
and its local emergency management service organization. Such plans
shall include the manner of transporting evacuees, the number of evacuees
to be received at different locations, the manner in which food, clothing,
housing, and medical care will be provided, the registration of the
evacuees, and all other relevant factors.
E.
Provisions that the agreement shall become effective
immediately upon its adoption by the respective municipality.
F.
Provisions that the agreement shall continue in force
and remain binding on each municipality until the governing body of
a municipality takes action to withdraw therefrom. Such action shall
not be effective until 30 days after a municipality desiring to withdraw
provides written notice of the withdrawal to the other municipality
that is a party to the agreement.