A Little Information For the Public That the Township Chooses Not to Share.

All six of the volunteer fire companies were manned throughout the hurricane Irene emergency. Many companies had 25 members or more at their stations for over 36 hours. Recently, the township announced that they would be applying for Federal disaster relief funds (as they should do). What they are not telling you is that they are not applying for any funds for the six volunteer fire companies. The Director of Public Safety called in the paid weekday firefighters and firefighter/inspectors on overtime. This was done despite all six fire companies were staffed. Many of the firefighter/inspectors are members of the local volunteer fire companies. Instead of these six members (the firefighter/inspectors, not the four paid weekday firefighters) staffing their respective fire stations, they were called in to staff the one paid engine and six non-firefighting vehicles. Make sense? The Director of Public Safety and his staff at the township building had food supplied to them at the cost of the township. This is understandable considering the time they spent at the township building. What about the volunteer firefighters staffing the eight volunteer stations? Not a meal or a dime to pay for a meal! The paid rescue squad will receive funds from the Federal disaster money.

We saw in the paper where the township went over its snow removal budget. What they failed to mention was that they repeatedly go over their snow removal budget. They have done it a majority of the years in the last ten years. The last three years in a row they have gone over. We are well aware of the costs involved in operating equipment (as volunteers the only thing we don't get is money for our time), however, we also understand budgeting. If you repeatedly underestimate a line item there is something wrong with your process. Maybe we should contact snow removal officials in the mid-west. They removal far greater amounts of snow with fewer vehicles and more roads on a regular basis. And they do all of this within well-established budgets. One county in Illinois was featured on dateline. They have half the equipment our township has and five times the amount of roadway, and yet within six hours of a storm, they have plowed all the roads in the County.

What we as volunteer firefighters are asking is for a plan. We as part of the township emergency services have yet to see the Township emergency operations plan! Does anyone else think it is important for us to understand the plan and be able to function properly?

Either no one at the township knows what is going on or they don't want to reveal their secrets. Either way, this is a danger to the emergency services and the community we serve.

We just learned that the Director of Public Safety purchased an $80,000.00 utility vehicle with auto extrication equipment. That now makes a total of five pieces of fire apparatus in the township carrying auto extrication equipment. Why is it that the townships volunteer firefighters (except the select few who work for the township) are the last to know?

YES HAMAN!! TELL US WHY!!