Township adopts 15‑month fire services strategic plan to shore up volunteer companies

MIDDLETOWN — The Milltown Township Board of Supervisors on a 5–0 vote adopted a 15‑month Fire Services Strategic Plan intended to strengthen the township’s volunteer fire companies and the daytime paid staff that support them.

Assistant Township Manager Mister Valla presented the draft plan and told the board it was produced in a facilitated, advertised workshop that included representatives from all four local volunteer companies and members of township administration. "The scope of this strategic plan is about 15 months spanning through about the end of next summer," Valla said, and noted the document lists roughly 13 goals across four initiative areas — structure and funding, department leadership, volunteer recruitment and retention, and performance measures — each with associated objectives and timelines.

The plan grew out of an earlier study and a one‑day strategic workshop intended to translate recommendations into concrete actions and timelines. "I would certainly recommend moving forward with adopting this plan so we can move into the implementation phase," Valla told the board before the vote.

Board members and members of the public pressed for clarification on timing and potential cost. One attendee noted an earlier report that, if left unaddressed, suggested a hypothetical $11,000,000 tax increase could be required in future years to fund paid fire services. The board’s discussion acknowledged that the strategic plan does not directly model that extreme scenario but does include steps to identify sustainable funding for volunteer companies; the chair said the goal is to avoid moving to a fully paid fire department.

Supervisors asked that the underlying study and the workshop materials be circulated; the assistant manager agreed to provide the report and related documents to board members in the coming days. The board approved the motion to adopt the plan (mover: Chair (unnamed); second: Speaker 8). The adoption begins the plan’s implementation phase, which includes benchmark updates to be reported to the board as work proceeds.

What happens next: staff and the volunteer companies will begin carrying out the plan’s objectives and report periodic benchmark updates to the Board of Supervisors; the board emphasized ongoing work to identify funding sources and avoid drastic service shifts.