Council reviews McCandless/Franklin Park service agreement draft; seeks clarifications on oversight, revenues and insurance

Franklin Park participants reviewed a draft service agreement with McCandless and a regional authority (referred to in the transcript as MFPA/MFBA) and asked for contract clarifications on oversight, service scope, revenue ownership, accreditation and insurance coverage.

The draft agreement contains language that, as written, appears to assign a broad set of operational and administrative responsibilities and revenue ownership to the authority. Participants raised multiple concerns: a clause that describes the authority as providing “all day-to-day management and center operation procedures” for emergency and nonemergency medical services was described as broad; another clause would make revenues and donations the “sole and exclusive property” of the authority. Members discussed whether the borough should be bound by language that would vest unrestricted revenue ownership in the authority or that would create an appearance of municipal oversight where none was intended.

Participants also questioned a clause requiring the authority to ‘‘maintain PaaS accreditation’’ (transcript spelling), asking what would happen if accreditation were lost and whether the contract should instead require the authority to use its best efforts to maintain accreditation. Several members flagged an insurance clause that would require each party to name the other municipalities as additional insured on policies, warning that municipal insurance programs and private carriers might not accept being listed as additional insured without clearer limits. Participants suggested defining “parties” clearly at the start of the agreement so obligations and insured entities are unambiguous.

No formal vote on the service agreement was recorded. The council discussed preparing a version “in form acceptable to solicitor” that would address the noted clauses, aligning Franklin Park’s document with similar wording McCandless may sign and returning the revised draft for council consideration. One participant indicated the agreement’s funding commitment relates to the borough’s fiscal years but the exact amount referenced in the transcript was not specified.