SUNBURY- This month’s funding for the Sunbury Good Will Hose Company is being withheld. Monday night, the city council voted to suspend the fire company’s monthly stipend until the company is put back into service. Each fire company receives approximately $7,000 in funding which is distributed throughout the year in monthly installments.
Mayor David Persing explains, “The city of Sunbury gives somewhere around $7,000 to each fire company. That’s for gasoline, maintenance on their trucks, and things like that throughout the course of the year. But that’s because we expect that truck to show up and respond when they can. Since they’re off the list, and they’re not going to be able to do that, we put all their money on hold.”
Mayor Persing says that the money will be put back when the issues have been resolved and the company is put back into service, “They just have some personal issues they have to work out, but I’m sure that our Fire Chief has everything under control, and hopefully within thirty days it will be back, we can put the money back and this whole thing will go away. But that’s up to the Good Will Fire Company and their members. They have to get that straightened out.”
Mayor Persing also stressed that the city of Sunbury will still have coverage in the event of a fire,
“The people of Sunbury have nothing to be afraid of. We have enough fire protection to take care of them. When they took themselves out of service, somebody automatically jumped in to take care of that, so, there’s nowhere in the city of Sunbury where anybody should be thinking they don’t have fire service because they do.”
The Good Will Hose Company took itself out of service last week due to internal differences. (Ashley Thomas)
