North Wales, Pa., Officials Weigh Costs, Voice Concerns in Fire Service Regionalization Study
By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- North Wales, Pennsylvania, officials are reviewing a state-backed study recommending shared fire services among North Wales, Upper and Lower Gwynedd, and Ambler.
- Mayor Neil McDevitt said the borough favors operational cooperation over a costly merger, citing concerns that the smallest community wouldn’t have a proportionate voice in the process.
- The North Penn Volunteer Fire Company estimates replacing current volunteer coverage with two full-time daytime staff would cost about $750,000 annually, or $1.08 million for four full-time staff, compared with the $40,000-$45,000 the borough currently contributes.
- Council’s recommendation is not to pursue formal legal consolidation at this time, instead focusing on operational cooperation such as shared training and equipment standardization.
- The North Penn Volunteer Fire Company faces an annual roughly $200,000 funding gap covered through fundraisers and investment income; council next meets Oct. 13.
NORTH WALES, Pa. — North Wales officials are examining what a state-backed fire services regionalization study would mean for the borough, weighing potential cost increases against concerns about the community’s influence in any eventual agreement with three neighboring municipalities.
“We’re just looking at how it applies to North Wales specifically,” Mayor Neil McDevitt told council Tuesday night. The discussion follows a joint study presented by state Department of Community and Economic Development officials in May in partnership with North Wales, Upper and Lower Gwynedd, Ambler and their respective fire companies.
McDevitt said council’s public safety committee has met several times with North Penn Volunteer Fire Company leadership since the study’s release to discuss its recommendations and rough cost estimates. “One of the key findings in this is: We need to make sure we have a voice in the process,” McDevitt said, noting North Wales would have the smallest population and tax base among the four communities. “We’re not convinced, as the smallest community, that we would have a proportionate voice in the process.”
The borough currently contributes $40,000 to $45,000 annually to the volunteer fire company. Replacing that level of service with paid daytime staff would cost an estimated $750,000 for two full-time employees working weekday hours, or roughly $1.08 million to fully staff a fire truck with four personnel — an increase McDevitt said would represent 15 to 23 times the borough’s current funding level.
North Penn Volunteer Fire Company President Ian Horowitz and Chief Dan Mathe said the department already informally coordinates with neighboring fire companies during major incidents, citing a recent fire on Shearer Street that drew responses from 10 to 12 surrounding jurisdictions. Horowitz said cultural differences and long institutional histories among the various companies could pose challenges to any deeper integration. “It’s a very prideful organization, in every town that you go,” he said. “So there’s hurdles to jump, but we’re not really there yet.”
Council’s current recommendations are to avoid formal legal consolidation for now, let the fire companies take the lead on identifying areas for coordination, potentially increase borough funding to the fire company with annual reporting requirements, and support the fire company’s advocacy for a county-wide GPS-based dispatch system, which officials said could improve on the current method of dispatching from availability lists rather than proximity.
Mathe said operating “a bare-bones firehouse” costs the department about $300,000 annually, with roughly $100,000 coming from North Wales and Lower Gwynedd Township combined, leaving a $200,000 annual gap covered through fundraisers and investment income before accounting for apparatus purchases or station upgrades. Council President Mark Tarlecki noted a pending state bill that could allow the borough to raise a local services tax dedicated to fire funding, though he said any such change remains distant. “This is a long way off. It’s certainly not going to pass this year,” Tarlecki said.
North Wales Borough Council next meets at 7 p.m. Oct. 13.