Longport Borough Hall
LONGPORT – With fewer members of the Longport Volunteer Fire Department who are certified emergency medical technicians living in the borough, the Board of Commissioners is establishing a stipend-based “duty crew” to encourage members to be available for fire and medical emergencies during the summer months when visitors flock to the shore.
The commission introduced an ordinance June 18 establishing the stipend schedule but voting on it could be problematic as two of the three commissioners have perceived conflicts of interest.
Commissioner James Leeds’s son Jim Leeds a is member of the Longport Volunteer Fire Department and Mayor Nicholas Russo is an active firefighter with EMT certification. Only Commissioner Dan Lawler is without conflict. Leeds and Lawler voted to introduce the ordinance. Russo was unable to attend the meeting because he was responding to a medical emergency.
Solicitor Pacifico “Pat” Agnellini said he would investigate the conflicts before a vote on the ordinance is taken at the July 10 meeting.
The ordinance amending the borough’s salary, wages and compensation ordinance states the EMTs and firefighters may receive a stipend based on criteria set by the Commissioner of Public Safety and Public Affairs.
“The payments set forth herein shall not be considered salary, nor shall payments be considered to in any way construe the creating of a paid or partially paid fire department or ambulance squad with the Borough of Longport,” the ordinance states. It also states that those who receive stipends will not be considered employees of the borough.
Duty crews can receive stipends, paid on a monthly basis, from May 24 to Sept. 2. A non-firefighter driver can receive $75 per shift, and certified firefighter drivers $100 per shift. Non-firefighter EMTs can receive $125 per shift, and certified firefighter EMTs $150 per shift. Volunteers can serve no more than three duty crew shifts per week, and two duty crews are being scheduled 7 days a week throughout summer.
Russo said the 100-day trial program was started because there were missed calls when volunteers were not available to respond. In those instances, the Margate Fire Department responded to the emergencies under a mutual aid agreement as required by state statues.
The stipend program was implemented following a report from Stockton University on recruiting and retention of firefighters and EMTs.
“It’s tougher to get volunteers,” Chief Levon “Lefty” Clayton said. “With this younger generation, volunteers who need to take the training and put in the time are few and far between.”
Russo said the city budgeted $25,000 for the program, the Fire Department contributed $10,000 and the management of a low-rise condominium complex donated $2,500 to fund the stipends on a trial basis.
Russo, who has been a volunteer for 10 years, said the duty crews started on June 1.
“You have to stay at the firehouse from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., a 10-hour shift, and while there, perform duty work, such as sweeping, cleaning, maintaining equipment and checking apparatus,” he said.
Russo said duty crews can earn no more than $6,300 a year.
“It’s only a stipend. Not a lot of money, but it may encourage firefighters to be available,” Russo said.
In a separate agreement, volunteer firefighters can receive an annual stipend of $1,200 if they respond to a minimum number of calls. However, according to the Stockton report, 63% of Longport firefighters do not collect any stipend at all.
The department, which has been in existence since 1912, has about 35 firefighters on its rolls, but the few active members who respond most frequently are older, Clayton said.
With the average price for a house in Longport hovering around $1 million, young people cannot afford to live there, Clayton said. Many members live in other Downbeach communities or the Mainland area.
“When they first volunteer, they may be residents of Longport, but as their families grow, they can move out of town to Somers Point, Northfield or Linwood,” Russo said.
Nevertheless, whenever there is a working fire, most of the department’s volunteers show up, Russo said.
“This is a trial period,” Clayton said. “So far, it’s working well. We only had one night where there was no one available. Whenever that happens, we put out an All Call, and then everyone is alerted they should respond to a call.”
Clayton said Longport had 148 EMS calls last year and 156 fire calls, including false alarms.
Offering reassurance to residents, Clayton said despite the shortage of available volunteers, the borough’s response time is under 5 minutes, “which is very good,” he said. “NFPA recommends an apparatus on scene within 10-12 minutes and 6 minutes for life support, which can be delivered by any first responders, including police.”
There as been no push back from volunteers on the stipend program, he said.
“We discussed it with the crew and asked what we can do to ensure we can respond, and they agreed that we have to pay a stipend to the volunteers,” Clayton said.
After the summer, the program will be evaluated to determine if it should be reinstated for summer 2020, or if the borough should seek other options, which could include asking Margate, which has a fully paid staff, to once again cover emergency medical services under a shared-services agreement.
“Before 1972, Margate provided ambulance service to Longport. But the mayor in Margate at that time said they were responding to 800 calls for service and it was too much for their department to handle. That’s when Longport set its own EMS,” Clayton said. “But there were a lot more firefighters who lived here then. Things changed. Maybe it should change again.”
Clayton said he had contacted then-Margate Chief Tony Tabasso to discuss a combined fire department with volunteers and career firefighters, “but it never went anywhere.”
Nevertheless, Margate responds with mutual aid, and Longport reciprocates, Clayton said.
“We respond to Margate fires and can get a half-dozen firefighters there within 5 minutes,” he said.
Although it may require some reorganization, “no one wants to see the Longport Fire Department cease to exist,” Clayton said.
A public hearing on the ordinance will be held 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 10.
