Packer Township finally has a fire protection agreement with the Borough of Weatherly.

Tuesday night, the township supervisors voted unanimously to accept Weatherly’s latest offer of a contract for the rest of 2024 that calls for a 5.4%.

“That’s what they asked for in the beginning,” said Supervisors chairman Robert Selert.

The offer, which Selert received via email, also included reimbursement of maintenance costs exceeding $4,000, with a limit of five times during the year, payable within 30 days.

In August, the supervisors said a three-year offer of $2,413.96, $2,515.35 and $2,631.05 was made by the borough. An offer to extend the agreement to 2033 included a minimum 2% increase per year, based on the Social Security Administration’s Cost of Living Adjustment. But the supervisors were not comfortable signing on with this contract due to the uncertainty of the COLA for the next 10 years.

Supervisor Bob Selert said the board countered with a 10-year offer that would have Packer paying $41,798 annually by 2033. The percentages annually over the last seven years would have been 4.4, 4.6, 4.5, 4.7 and 4.7, a total of 43.1%. But that offer was turned down.

On Nov. 30, Packer officials presented the same three-year contract Weatherly had originally proposed, but it was rejected.

The supervisors said at that time they preferred to sign a contract for three years, as presented by the borough, and at the end of 2026, meet with the borough with the possibility of signing on with a 10-year contract depending on the status of the economy.

Supervisor Terry Davis said the township wants to begin negotiating for the next contract soon.

“Over the summer months, hopefully we can come up with a longer-term contract with them (Weatherly),” Davis said.

Township residents are among the volunteers who staff the Citizens Fire Co. No. 1 of Weatherly, which is the firefighting force for the borough and township.