At the present time, volunteer fire and emergency response companies are the ones responding to calls for help, but operating costs are up, volunteer numbers are down, and volunteer companies are running on a lot less manpower than they used to. In 1976, Pennsylvania had 300,000 active volunteer firefighters. By 2005, that number had dropped to 72,000 active participants in the state’s 2,354 volunteer fire companies.
Some of our companies are in dire need of assistance, monetary and otherwise. In response, we are encouraging you to help. Please be aware that if our volunteer fire companies disappear, the price tag for replacing them with paid firefighters is huge: billions of dollars statewide and a cost that can’t be calculated — residents’ safety.
There can be no question about townships’ responsibility for the safety of their residents. Pennsylvania's Act 7 of 2008 states that “the township shall be responsible for ensuring that fire and emergency medical services are provided within the township by the means and to the extent determined by the township, including the appropriate financial and administrative assistance for these services.”
This means that if the volunteer fire departments shut down because of lack of funds or volunteers, it becomes the direct responsibility of the municipalities. If we have to go out and recreate what was being provided for a relatively low cost, it will come with a real price tag. It’s pay me now with donations, or pay me later with a fire tax.
Paying later will cost plenty: $6 billion a year statewide, according to the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute. That figure includes the cost of pay and benefts for today’s fire service volunteers, gear, apparatus, and general operations — everything it takes to run a fire department.
Please help by volunteering and/or donating to our local fire and ems companies. The next time you do see that fund drive letter in the mail, don't throw it away. Give what you can! And please volunteer your time to help, either with firefighting or one of the many other ways that individual effort can help! Get involved with your community services, it's very rewarding personally!
For more info on this subject, the Berks County website has some good information on the
state of volunteer fire companies in PA, what
business can do to help, what
individuals can do to help, and what
the fire companies can do to help. This information is very much applicable to the citizens, businesses, and volunteer fire companies in Hamiltonban Township.
The fire companies that service Hamiltonban Township are listed below. All can use your help:
Fairfield Fire & EMS
Fountaindale Volunteer Fire Co
Cashtown Community Fire Co
South Mountain Volunteer Fire Co
Your e-mail address will kept CONFIDENTIAL! It will NOT be sold or given to anyone and will only be used for official business. Also, your e-mail address will not be displayed in the e-mail itself, so no one else will be able to see who is receiving the e-mails.
If you want to participate in this voluntary program, please call Secretary/Treasurer Deborah Feiler at the office at 717-642-8509 or e-mail your information to: hamiltonban@embarqmail.com
To give you an idea of what the email Newsletters look like, the latest one was sent out in March 2012, and is shown below.
* The 7th Annual Hamiltonban Township Highway Clean Up is scheduled for Saturday, April 14th from 8AM to 7PM . Rain date will be Sunday, April 18th. Help keep the Township clean by picking up trash along the roads; vests, gloves and trash bags will be provided. For more information and how to help out, please contact the Township office or visit the Township webpage. We are hoping for a great turnout to help beautify the roadways.
* Runners participating in the 2012 American Odyssey Relay will be running through the Township on Friday, April 27th. Please be alert as we want to provide a safe environment for these runners.
* The Fairfield Sesquicentennial Committee will once again host Fairfield Civil War Days, May 5th and 6th in Fairfield . This event commemorates the pivotal events that occurred in Fairfield during the Civil War. Speakers will present information on the cavalry skirmish in Monterey , General Lee's retreat from Gettysburg , and historian Tim Smith will speak about Fairfield during the Civil War. Also planned are a living history educational encampment, house tours, and a Saturday evening gathering around a bonfire, where the South Carolina String Band will host an old-fashioned sing-along of music from the Civil War era. The weekend highlight will be the Cavalry Action on Landis Field. Complete with cannons booming, and charging horses with sabers flying, this event recreates the cavalry action that took place just west of Fairfield . For more information, contact the American Living History Education Society, alhes1776@yahoo.com, or the Gettysburg Travel Council.
* Townships Today is a quarterly newsletter designed to increase public awareness about township government and issues affecting our community. To view the latest issue visit http://hamiltonban.com/data/Townships%20Today%20-%202012%20Winter.pdf
* Are you prepared in the event of an emergency, do you have a plan of action? Visit the FEMA sponsored website to Prepare, Plan and Stay Informed. http://www.ready.gov/
Remember to always check the Hamiltonban Township website for township information.
Deborah K. Feiler
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News About Hamiltonban Township
Hamiltonban Township Newsletters
The Township Supervisors prepare and mail to all residents an end-of-year Budget Messsage and a mid-year Newsletter. The end-of-year Budget Message includes the budget that has been adopted for the following year. The purpose of the Budget Messages is to make the budgeting process more understandable to the general public, to recap accomplishments in the prior year and to explain the programs and initiatives that the Township Supervisors plan to accomplish in the coming year. The mid-year Newsletters provide an interim progress report of the activities of the Township, and explain any changes in plans since the most recent Budget Message was issued. The Budget Messages and Newsletters for the past few years are available below. Also available are the year-end reports from the Township's Planning and Zoning Commission and the Recreation and Parks commission.
Our Volunteer Fire Companies Need Your Help!
Our local volunteer fire and emergency response companies are in need of donations and volunteers. Please help keep them going by contributing your time and/or money. If they have to be replaced by full-time, paid professionals, the cost to everyone will be very high.
106 Steelman Street
Fairfield, PA 17320
(717) 642-8842
Fairfield Fire & EMS website
1340 Old Waynesboro Rd
Fairfield, PA 17320
(717) 794-2021
Here is the 2012 Fountaindale FD Calendar of events
1111 Old Route 30
Orrtanna, PA 17353
(717) 334-1080 (717) 334-3838
11207 Loop Rd
Fayetteville, PA
17222 (717) 749-5212 Receive Township Information by e-mail
To better communicate with our citizens, Hamiltonban Township maintains an e-mail distribution list of all residents who interested in receiving information from the Township by e-mail.
The kind of information that is distributed includes budget messages, upcoming regular and special Board or Commission meeting dates and proposed agendas, emergency notifications and other similar information.HAMILTONBAN TOWNSHIP MARCH 2012 NEWSLETTER
* An Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the Recs and Parks Commission will be held Saturday, March 31st from 10AM to 12PM . This year the hunt will be held at 4020 Bullfrog Road (behind Liberty Worship Center ). Children should bring a bag or basket with handles for collecting eggs. For more information, please contact the Township office or visit the Township webpage. Anyone interested in helping out with the Easter Egg Hunt should contact the Township Office or show up at 9AM . Volunteers are always welcome and needed. In the event of inclement weather, the Easter Egg Hunt will be held inside the new maintenance facility.
Secretary/Treasurer
Hamiltonban Township
P. O. Box 526
23 Carrolls Tract Road
Fairfield PA 17320
Voice717-642-8509
Fax 717-642-9511
hamiltonban@embarqmail.com
The Starting Time for all Hamiltonban Township Public Meetings is 7:00 PM
Beginning in 2010, all Hamiltonban Township public meetings start at , local prevailing time. Previously, all meetings had been held at 7:30 PM. The change was made to allow more time for meetings without running too late into the night.
Articles from the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors
Free Disposal of Recyclable Trash
Recyclable trash may be disposed of at the Adams Rescue Mission, 2525 York Rd, Gettysburg, PA and at the Washington Township Refuse Transfer and Recycling Center at 12721 Buchannan Trail East, in Franklin County, PA. Items eligible for recycling and the hours of operation are listed at the Adams Rescue Mission website, and at the Washington Township website. At a future date, Hamiltonban Township plans to accept recyclable trash at the Township Office. When this service becomes available, a notice will be posted on this website. In the meantime, please use either the Adams Rescue Mission or the Washington Township recycling centers for your recyclable trash.