In an effort to incentivize volunteer firefighters and encourage their continued life-saving efforts in Plymouth Township, the governing body unanimously approved a pay-per-call retention program. Active volunteer members with Plymouth Fire Co. and Harmonville Fire Co. are eligible for nominal payments for service and training provided members either respond to a minimum of 15 percent of the total number of dispatched emergency calls or attend at least 50 percent of the total weekly fire company sponsored training/drill nights. Council Chair Marty Higgins said the pay-per-call effort is aimed at “compensating volunteers for some of their activities.” The objective is to help fire companies increase their volunteer rosters while demonstrating the value of firefighters’ services. The pay-per-call fee schedule includes $5 per dispatched emergency call fee; $10 fee for emergency calls that exceed 60 minutes; $10 per in-station duty staffing at six-hour increments; and $20 per certificate training by an accredited institution for classes of a minimum of 12 hours. Higgins said the pay-per-call effort will hopefully prevent or at least postpone the need to hire paid fire staff. Doing so would cost the township “millions of dollars,” he said.