The full agreement can be viewed on the township website.
Tabernacle Township and the Tabernacle Rescue Squad have reached a contract agreement after months of negotiation.
An agreement was reached with the assistance of new Committeeman Samuel Moore acting as a liaison for public safety following the resignation of Arch Liston as public safety director.
Township Administrator and Director of Public Works Doug Cramer said the cause for the contract dates back to 2015. He said once the township created an ordinance, a facility use agreement and a contract with Tabernacle Fire Company №1 after the dissolution of the fire district, the township committee then wished to provide the same series of agreements with TRS.
At that time, the township already had an ordinance and a facility use agreement with TRS, so in 2016 the public safety subcommittee started working with TRS to reach an agreement. A tentative agreement was worked on but never brought to a vote by the full committee.
Cramer said TRS voluntarily provided provisions of the tentative agreement in 2017 and 2018, including payment of its fuel usage and reimbursement of its insurance cost to the township. This tentative agreement was the basis from which the new contract started.
He said the contract was proposed by the public safety committee as an upgrade to the ordinance naming TRS as Tabernacle’s EMS and rescue provider. It was also proposed to provide residents with an additional assurances on commitment of both the township committee and TRS to continue to provide the dedicated service they have received in the past.
TRS is required to provide emergency medical and rescue response services to all residents 24 hours per day, every day of the year. TRS will serve as the lead agency for rescue services in Tabernacle and will work in cooperation with the Tabernacle Fire Company №1 as a task force.
TRS representatives will appear quarterly at township workshop meetings to report on the number of emergency response calls they’ve received, types of emergency response calls they’ve received, total volunteer hours of service performed, number of mutual aid calls provided and received, response times, number of patients served and destinations, listing of standby service provided, listing of special events covered, conducted or having provided participation and more.
TRS will maintain and operate the vehicles and equipment in its possession in a safe manner and will take all necessary steps to ensure the proper training of members and such safe operation and use.
They will be responsible for the payment of all costs for the proper maintenance and repair of all emergency medical and rescue response services equipment and apparatus. They will also pay for all fuel consumed in the operation of all emergency service vehicles.
“This contract provides an additional level of stability for Tabernacle’s residents and the members of the Tabernacle Rescue Squad moving forward,” Cramer said. “This contract also verifies the commitment of the Tabernacle Township Committee to provide quality dedicated EMS and rescue services for our residents in a cost-effective manner.”
President of TRS Jamie Wood said she is pleased with the agreement and expressed gratitude toward the assistance Moore put forth.
“I’m very satisfied with the outcome, it’s basically what we agreed upon years ago,” TRS President Jamie Wood said. “We’re volunteers and we’re here to serve, we’ve been doing this since the ’50s and we’re thankful that the new committeeman, Moore, did his homework and listened to all parties involved and came to an agreement.”
The full contract with information regarding additional provisions is available at www.townshipoftabernacle-nj.gov.
