In front of a packed Emmaus Borough Council Chamber, members voted to add $80,000 to the Emmaus Fire Department's 2013 budget to keep paid on-call standby as standard practice.

"We are going to keep the process intact," Councilmember Brian Holtzhafer said. "We do need to fix some issues (with the pay structure), some legal issues. We will be working on an ordinance to reconstruct the fire department in a legal way."

The change to keep on-call standby firefighters was made in response to an outpouring of support from borough firefighters and citizens. Firefighters one-by-one explained how the practice of paying volunteers a small amount to respond to calls from the station has led to a strong department with response times which typically are under five minutes.

Former Emmaus Fire Chief Robert Reiss said eliminating the program could delay response times from two to three minutes to 10 to 12 minutes if firefighters had to come from home before hopping on the truck in an emergency situation. He also pointed out a typical fire will quadruple in size every minute it is left burning.

Reiss helped implement the practice of paying volunteers when he was the chief. He also made sure Emmaus firefighters were well-trained before entering any emergency situation.

"I am proud to say we were the first fire company in Pennsylvania to have 75 percent of our department certified (at least the Firefighter 1 level)," Reiss said.

Current and past Emmaus firefighters showed their unity and camaraderie by walking from the fire house to attend the Dec. 17 council meeting.

Emmaus Daytime Firefighter Paul Shankweiler said the small amount of pay the fire personnel receive helps bring top tier firefighters from around the area to Emmaus. Shankweiler, an Upper Milford resident who also volunteers with other fire departments, said Emmaus has a great model and should never move away from offering the best possible fire coverage for its citizens.

Emmaus Firefighter Robert Schwoyer, who is certified as an officer, a driver and a firefighter, said he is personally rewarded by regularly helping people and wants to see Emmaus' fire coverage continue to get better as it has in previous years. He said keeping response times low is the best way to save lives in an emergency.

George DeVault, a current Upper Milford Supervisor who spent 20 years with the Emmaus Fire Department, said it is more difficult each year to find qualified volunteer firefighters.

"It is a thankless and dirty job that burns you out over the years," DeVault said. "The Borough of Emmaus is extremely fortunate to have such a well-trained group of volunteer professionals, if you will."

The additional funding for the EFD will also come with a one-eighth of a mill increase in the 2013 tax rate. This makes the proposed millage rate 4.325 mills.

Holtzhafer said it is estimated to work out to an average increase of $20 per year for each borough taxpayer. With this change in the millage rate, Emmaus will re-advertise the tax rate. There will be a special meeting 8:30 a.m. Dec. 24 to adopt the millage rate. Council passed an ordinance applying a 5.1 percent increase to water fees for borough residents in 2013. The proposed ordinance will also increase meter rates while eliminating the first $8 per unit fee on multiunit properties.

An ordinance amending the sewer and sewerage disposal rates was also approved.

The first reading of the amended truck parking ordinance was passed at the meeting. Councilmember Lee Ann Gilbert initially presented the ordinance with language providing permitted parking for tractors and commercial trucks but a vote by council took the addition out of the ordinance. Nathan Brown, Wesley Barrett, Holtzhafer and Brent Labenburg voted against the permits citing liability issues with operating a paid parking lot, objections to the location of the site and concerns with government getting into the business of paid parking.

Council also agreed to terms with the police pension program and voted to sign contracts with both borough secretaries and public works employees.