WEST DECATUR – Boggs Township Supervisors announced at their monthly meeting Monday that they had received a request from BJW Fire Company for $4,100 as a service fee, and that the township would try to negotiate the cost.
It was explained that until now BJW had been paid on a per fire basis for their services. BJW are one of several fire companies, including Philipsburg and Glenn Richey, that service the Boggs Township area by splitting it into sections with a certain fire company in charge of each section. The primary caretaker of that section is the one paid for the fire even if they call out to another for assistance. So while BJW had been called in to help with the Blue Bell school fire, it was not within their area. BJW Fire Company has not had a fire in their area in several years, and as such has not received any income from Boggs Township.
With no income coming in from Boggs in recent years, BJW had requested this service fee as they still have daily costs occurring whether or not there are fires.
The supervisors, sympathetic to BJW stated publicly they would negotiate to see if they could get the fee down from $4.1 thousand. Some of the citizens present questioned paying BJW for having done no work for them in years.