Woolwich committee adopts amended ordinance to recover fire-department response costs after vehicle incidents

The Woolwich Township Committee on April 7 adopted Ordinance 2025-08, which establishes a program to recover costs for deployment of emergency and non-emergency services by the Woolwich Fire Company in response to motor-vehicle and commercial-vehicle incidents. The measure passed after the Committee approved two amendments to the draft ordinance.

The Committee amended section 3 to replace the phrase 'over two-thirds of the recovery costs' with language that recovery will be negotiated by the Township Committee. The panel also voted to remove the Chief Response hourly rates listed in Exhibit A. Committeeman McGovern moved the section-3 amendment and Deputy Mayor Nocentino seconded; Committeeman Frederick proposed striking the Chief Response rates. In a roll-call vote the ordinance passed 3–1: Frederick YES, McGovern NO, Nocentino YES, Matthias YES.

Committee discussion centered on fee structure and collection for uninsured individuals, and on how third-party collection agents would handle unpaid bills. Committeeman McGovern expressed concern about the effect of fees on uninsured residents and questioned the hourly rate used to calculate Chief Response charges. Solicitor Alice and other Committee members discussed collection mechanics; there was no public comment during the ordinance hearing.

The ordinance gives the Township authority to seek reimbursement for response costs, with specific recovery amounts to be negotiated and with Chief Response rates removed from the ordinance text for future consideration. The Committee did not specify a new rate schedule at the meeting.

Next steps: the amended ordinance is adopted and will be reflected in the Township code; the Committee indicated it will revisit fee levels and collections practices in the coming year to assess whether further adjustments are needed.