ALLENTOWN – Borough officials are working with their counterparts in neighboring Upper Freehold Township to address what they said is an ongoing issue in the Hope Fire Company.
The Hope Fire Company, with headquarters on Route 526 in Upper Freehold, serves both municipalities. The organization’s firefighters are a combination of volunteer firefighters and paid firefighters, according to Allentown officials.
During a recent Borough Council meeting, council President Thomas Fritts said representatives from Allentown met with representatives from Upper Freehold to discuss the relationship between the volunteer firefighters and the paid firefighters.
Fritts said the relationship between those groups “has been tough over the last several years.” He said the council’s goal is “to continue to promote volunteerism in the fire company. The borough cannot afford a 100 percent paid fire department.”
Council members read from an email that Upper Freehold’s Township Administrator Dianne Kelly sent to Allentown officials following the meeting between the representatives of the two municipalities.
In her April 18 email that had the subject line “Fire operation-personnel issues,” Kelly wrote, “As a follow-up to our meeting (on April 12), wherein you expressed your concerns regarding the relationship between the career staff and volunteers, the (Township Committee members) discussed your comments at their township meeting. They are taking your advice to heart and are considering hiring a consultant to study the challenges and problems in this regard.
“We have been working on this problem ourselves for years, but it remains a problem. It may be time for a neutral expert in the field to make recommendations and help us implement them. Our goal is to find a way for the two groups to work more harmoniously by coming up with an acceptable organization chart, standard operating procedures, etc. We will be accepting proposals from fire consultants and will let you know how the governing body decides to proceed. Thank you for your interest in this matter,” Kelly wrote.
On May 21, Allentown Mayor Greg Westfall said the borough has not received an update from Upper Freehold as to whether a consultant has been hired to address the issues with the Hope Fire Company.
Upper Freehold Mayor Stephen Alexander and the township administrator could not be reached for comment. A message left for the president of the Hope Fire Company was not returned.
