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Council advances Chester County Fire Service Board ordinance with administrative amendments
Summary
Council approved second reading of ordinance 2025-6, dissolving the Bridal Fire Board and creating a county Fire Service Board with administrative changes to appointment succession and timing for submission of minutes.
Chester County Council on second reading approved ordinance 2025-6 to dissolve the Bridal Fire Board and create a Chester County Fire Service Board, adopting two staff-proposed administrative amendments addressing appointment succession and the timing for forwarding board minutes to council.
Nut graf: Council members sought clarification on membership and administrative procedures for the new Fire Service Board; planning staff and the sponsoring official described small clerical changes and a shortened timeline for minutes transmission.
Planning staff described the amendments. The ordinance creates a county-level Fire Service Board to govern fire service districts and defines authority and scope. Planning/land-use staff proposed two specific amendments to the draft ordinance: 1) a change to section 5.02(b)(3) to add that if a fire chief is unable to serve, appointments should follow the department rank structure where feasible (for example, assistant chief then captain), and 2) a change to section 6.04 to require that meeting minutes approved by the Fire Service Board be forwarded to county council within seven days rather than 30 days. The staff speaker said the shorter timeline was reasonable because a county staff person would chair meetings and prepare minutes.
When put to the body, the previous motion was withdrawn and restated to include the two amendments; council approved the second reading with the changes by voice vote.
Quotes and attributions
Mr. Kuzlarich (planning/land-use staff) explained the proposed succession language and the minutes timeline: "The appointment should follow department rank structure if feasible," he said, adding that the shorter minutes timeline is reasonable because "our full-time staff would be chairing the meeting and a staff person would be taking the minutes."
Context and next steps
The ordinance moves the county from the current Bridal Fire Board structure to a county Fire Service Board. County staff will implement the administrative procedures and forward draft and approved minutes per the amended timelines. Additional implementing steps, such as appointments and membership confirmations, are anticipated in subsequent meetings.
Ending: The second reading passed with the amendments; the ordinance will return in accordance with the council’s legislative timetable for final adoption.
