Oct. 13—Taylor Borough Council suspended a local fire company Wednesday, saying it hasn't made progress on a plan moving forward over the last 15 months.

Borough officials previously asked Taylor Hose & Engine Co. No. 1, 614 Union St., to consider merging with Taylor Fire & Rescue — which operates two stations in the borough — or come up with a plan to increase its call response by at least 50%, council President Kenneth Mickavicz said.

Several months went by without improvement, and Taylor Hose & Engine Co. No. 1 hasn't voted to merge with Taylor Fire & Rescue either, he said.

Effective Nov. 8, Mickavicz said Taylor Hose & Engine Co. No. 1 cannot respond to emergency calls until further notice. Along with not recognizing the fire company as an emergency services provider, Wednesday's unanimous vote included the suspension of any financial obligations and liabilities from the borough.

Mickavicz made it clear that council voted to suspend and not decertify, which no one wants to see happen.

"The last thing that we want to do is do anything against the volunteers of our community who give 1,000,000% of their time. ... We don't take this lightly," he said.

Mickavicz said the fire company has a manpower issue and borough officials have grown concerned with its response rate to calls.

The fire company's rate has dropped to roughly 16% or 17%, prompting the borough fire chief to automatically have a ladder truck from a neighboring community dispatched on calls in Taylor, he added.

Consolidating could alleviate this issue and mean significant financial savings, which officials saw when two companies merged to form Taylor Fire & Rescue several years ago, he said.

Michael Ossont, an attorney representing Taylor Hose & Engine Co. No. 1, said the fire company is willing to merge and has discussed it, but it's a matter of making it happen.

"If you suspend them as an organization and you take them away from being able to provide fire services, you're not promoting that merger, you're really alienating them," Ossont said.

Mickavicz acknowledged discussions have occurred, but said they haven't put an official agreement in place.

"We have to look down the road, the company across the street, which is two stations, that is basically handling the brunt of the calls," he said. "They also need increased financial resources to provide the services."

In making the "difficult" motion to suspend, Councilman James Digwood said officials already tabled the same vote last month. Ossont had asked council to table it one more time Wednesday.

"There's a lot of sentiment in regard to firefighting, but when you can't complete your initial job, which is coming out and fighting fires, it's disheartening for everyone within the borough," Digwood said. "It behooves us as the entity here to do what we needed to do this evening. I hope that you can come up with something. We've been waiting for 15 months for that plan."

If the fire company and its attorney return with a solid plan in the next few weeks, council can consider lifting the suspension at its November meeting, Mickavicz said.

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-348-9100 x5365; @BWilliamsTT on Twitter.

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