Some Plum volunteer firefighters soon could be pulling down a paycheck for their services.
Borough council this week approved an agreement with the Plum Fire Chiefs Association to test a stipend program.
The fire chiefs, from the Holiday Park, Logans Ferry Heights, Renton and Unity departments, still need to sign off on the agreement. They are expected to discuss it when they meet on Jan. 27, Logans Ferry Heights fire Chief Steve Marsh said.
As proposed, the daylight coverage program would see four volunteer firefighters from the borough’s departments staffed from 7 a.m. to noon and another four from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Two would be on each side of the borough per shift, not necessarily at their own department, with one of each pair qualified to drive an engine.
Each firefighter would be paid $75 per shift, or $15 per hour.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a volunteer firefighter could not be paid more than $12,000 in a year, Borough Manager David Soboslay said.
The trial would run through the end of the year, after which it will be reviewed and evaluated, Soboslay said.
Money for the stipends would come from the borough’s fire tax fund, which gets its money from a portion of the borough’s property taxes earmarked for the fire companies.
Plum would be among the first to start such a program, Marsh said previously. He pointed to Unity Township in Westmoreland County as an example they are following.
Unity’s seven departments launched a duty crew trial program on July 1. It aims to have one fire truck driver and a second firefighter standing by on each side of the Route 30 corridor through the township each weekday. Unity firefighters are paid $12 per hour for a 10-hour shift, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.