Is Pay-to-Stay the Answer to Resort Volunteer Fire Company’s Dilemma?

AVALON – At its July 27 meeting, Avalon Borough Council addressed a problem that afflicts many Jersey shore communities. Aging population, high island home values, and growing rates of second home ownership make staffing traditional volunteer fire departments difficult, especially for overnight schedules. 
Avalon Fire Chief Edward Dean told the council that the department had 34 active members of which 27 are firefighters.  Only eight of them are borough residents.
Like many other island communities along the shore, Avalon depends on off-island residents to staff the majority of its volunteer fire department.
“There is a serious shortage of residents we can draw on,” Dean said. He noted that call volume has increased as the number of borough residents in the department has decreased.
This presents a particular problem from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Dean said that daytime response to alarms is good. “We need to focus on our problem area,” he said, referring to overnight response times.
He added that it is not always even practical for the off-island volunteers to respond when in many instances the event is over before they can reach the island. The risk, of course, is delayed response to a serious event.
What Dean proposed was an incentive system to encourage firefighters to take shifts overnight at the firehouse. It is a model that, he said, is working in Stone Harbor where it has been in place for about five years. He added that Sea Isle City had recently initiated a similar model.
The way the model would work in Avalon would be to offer $10/hour incentive stipends to firefighters that staff an overnight shift at the fire house.
He was calling for four shifts per firefighter per month. Dean’s estimate for first-year costs to the borough is $150,000.
Dean emphasized the fact that the department would remain a volunteer organization. The stipend scheme is allowed under labor and tax law as long as no individual receives more than 20 percent of what a full-time firefighter would get in the market. “We will stay far below that 20 percent threshold,” Dean said.
Under Dean’s plan, members of the department would remain volunteers, not employees of the borough.
He also said time in the firehouse on shifts would include drill and maintenance tasks.
Council members appeared favorably disposed to the plan and thanked Dean for his efforts.
The discussion occurred during council’s work session. Thus no formal action was taken.
Landscape Ordinance
Council continued its work on ordinance revisions that will clarify landscape policies and property maintenance in the borough. Based on 18 months of work by an appointed committee, the borough has addressed a problem that had some residents voicing concerns in 2014.
The new revisions make clear the borough’s policy and give a basis for enforcement which was lacking in the former ordinance.
It states the conditions under which a landscape plan is required and clarifies the definitions used.
Of particular note is the goal to have 15 percent of any buildable area devoted to “green space” as defined in the ordinance. When required, the landscape plan will have to be submitted by the time the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.
The ordinance also deals with requirements related to Living Fences, clarifies the procedure by which lists of plant species are approved, and rules related to the clearing or clean-cutting of lots.
Revisions to the landscape requirements were introduced on first reading. Companion changes to the chapter dealing with property maintenance were still in discussion phase at the work session.
Beach Replenishment
Business Administrator Scott Wahl told the council that the federally funded beach replenishment project is out for bids.
The project is aimed at addressing critical areas in both Avalon and Stone Harbor.
Wahl said that the competition for federal dollars was keen this cycle as weather-related damage in the South is providing “significant funding competition.” The base bid is for 145 thousand cubic yards of sand with three additional options that can add to the amount.
Option one at 450,000 cubic yards represents the minimum level needed for a significant replenishment. 
Potential beyond that would be option two, at 250,000 cubic yards, and option three with an additional 95,000 cubic yards.
The completion of the bidding process and the final identification of funding levels are not known. Council’s hope is that the project can begin by Oct. 1 and end by March 15.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.