Carroll Valley supports emergency survey

(4/11) The Carroll Valley Borough Council voted at their April 10 to contribute $150 to a study to be conducted to access the future of emergency services in Adams County.

Municipalities are being asked by the Adams County Council of Governments’ (ACCOG) Emergency Funding Committee and the Adams County Volunteer Emergency Services Association (ACVESA) to help fund a study regarding “past, current and future emergency service levels and funding sources” in the county.

Carroll Valley Borough Councilman Neal Abrams said, “This is an interesting study. It hasn’t been done in a long time.”

He said the study was a joint venture that would involve all of the county fire department “to get some facts” regarding current future services.

Each participating municipality is being asked to contribute $150 towards the research, which will collectively help defray the overall anticipated cost of the research by $3,250, if all member municipalities pledge $150.

The full cost is projected to be around $13,000. According to the ACCOG, the municipalities’ share will represent about one-fourth of the total cost of the study. The balance of the funding will be provided by the ACCOG and the state Department of Commerce and Economic Development.

As part of the proposed study, findings expected to be garnered include an assessment of the service level available in the county today and “what is needed in the future to provide cost-effective and sustainable emergency services, a review of “past, current and future fire apparatus for fire and rescue fire station needs,” and a “fair and unbiased review of the county’s volunteer emergency services.”

The Carroll Valley Borough Council was asked to contribute $150 and to approve the ACCOG partnering with the ACVESA to contract a third party consultant to perform the study.

The purposes of the ACCOG Emergency Funding Committee is to “facilitate adequate and effective emergency services, pursue partnerships between ACCOG and volunteer fire organizations, and coordinate county-wide initiatives that support emergency services.”

ACCOG was founded “to provide a forum by which governmental entities of Adams County may meet to discuss issues of mutual interest, and to coordinate joint activities between members on an as-needed, voluntary basis.”