Wexford Volunteer Fire Co. and Pine leaders struggle to reach consensus on joint titling

During the correspondence portion of the May 19 supervisors meeting, Wexford Volunteer Fire Company notified Pine of its intent to withdraw from its current agreement to provide fire protection and initiate negotiations for a new one.

The township’s current agreement with the Wexford VFC is set to expire in December.

“This raised concerns, as there would be no funding arrangement in place with the company beyond December 2025. While the intent is to develop a new agreement, the outcome remains uncertain at this time,” township Manager Jason Kratsas said.

In the letter dated April 30, the fire company concluded by saying that the “Wexford Volunteer Fire Company looks forward to working together with the Township of Pine to reach a new agreement that best meets the fire protection and fire safety needs of the township residents.”

Relations between the township and the fire company appeared strained during the meeting. The line item that caused friction between the board and the fire company was the proposed purchase of a new fire engine for the Wexford VFC.

The new fire engine slated for purchase would replace Engine 3, a 1989 model. Fire engines typically are replaced every 10 years.

“This is a vehicle that is on the capital replacement plan and has been on the capital replacement plan for seven years. This is Engine 3, the one that sits in the basement of the township building. It’s from 1989 and it has problems,” Kratsas said while introducing the line item.

The new engine would be delivered in 2028 but needs to be ordered this year because of the long lead time from the manufacturer. The $1,374,049 capital request would be committed to be spent in 2028.

“The time frame on this is really unfortunate. When we ordered Engine 2, it was a one-year lead time. Now they’re up to three and a half years. We would do some shuffling to make this new engine our primary response vehicle because our primary response engine, Engine 1, will be 10 years old at the time of delivery of the new one in 2028. The new engine won’t be sitting in the township building in 2028, it will likely be Engine 1 in there,” Wexford VFC Chief Tom Hudak said.

Supervisor Pat Avolio initially made a motion to approve the purchase of the new engine for 2028. Supervisor Jack Donahue questioned whether or not Pine would own the new engine should the board not be able to negotiate a new agreement with the Wexford VFC.

Said Hudak: “One of the things that we did offer was that this would be ordered under the normal process where it’s jointly titled between the township and the fire company. If we are not able to strike a new agreement and we’re not the provider when it is delivered, we would waive our right to ownership and it would be a township asset at that time.”

Avolio said he worded the motion to be that Pine Township was ordering the new vehicle at its discretion. Hudak stressed that the joint titling of the vehicles used by the fire company for Pine Township is a matter of importance for the Wexford VFC as it is consistent with the current contract.

“If the township orders it, getting that joint title back in the new agreement is definitely something we will push for. This contract is currently in effect until December of 2025. The purchase for this particular apparatus was conveyed over 10 years ago, so it was expected. We’ve given up consideration as part of that township agreement, transferring real estate, providing the service, so the expectation is that the township stands by their commitment to purchase those vehicles on that schedule — whether it’s the first day of that contract period or the last,” Hudak said.

Vice Chair Audrey Mackie expressed approval of the idea of Pine ordering and owning the new vehicle because of the uncertainty surrounding the agreement between the township and WVFC.

“I think it’s the responsible thing to do while the contract is being negotiated. It’s being purchased with taxpayer dollars so it’s a taxpayer asset. As the stewards of the taxpayers, the township is then responsible, I believe,” Mackie said.

Hudak countered by saying the township also is responsible for standing by the contracts they have entered into. In the eyes of the WVFC, the township ordering and owning the new vehicle violates the terms of the current contract the fire company has with the township.

“Should we stop responding to calls because the contract is going to be up in December? We’re still doing our part. We expect the township to still do theirs,” Hudak said.

WVFC officials expressed hope that the board and fire company can make some progress on the agreement in the next 60 days.

As the item required further consideration — and since not all of the board members were present — the board tabled the request and will review it again at the June 2 meeting.