A five member committee appointed by the Somerset County Commissioners has presented a plan that would provide retirement benefits to long-time members of volunteer fire and ambulance companies. The plan was developed with “retention, recruitment and reward” in mind.  As reported in the Salisbury Daily Times:

If approved, fire company members in good standing as of July 1, 2015, would be grandfathered into the plan with years of service earned, and become eligible once they are 62 years old and have accumulated 25 active years with credits earned under the Length of Service Award Program.

Currently, there are 312 members of fire and ambulance companies in Somerset County, with 84 of them — about 27 percent — eligible for benefits now, said Steve Marshall, the county’s director of emergency services and a committee member.

The General Assembly would need to authorize the creation of a fund for this purpose before a plan could move forward.