STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4517 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 14, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. ANTONACCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to exempting East Syracuse Fire Department from the requirement that the percentage of non-resident fire department members not exceed forty- five percent of the membership The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 3 of paragraph (c) of section 1402 of the 2 not-for-profit corporation law, as separately amended by chapters 500 3 and 513 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows: 4 (3) In towns outside of villages and fire districts, the consent of a 5 majority of the members of the town board to the formation of a fire 6 corporation shall constitute an appointment of the persons named in the 7 certificate of incorporation as town firefighters. Thereafter, other 8 eligible persons may be elected as members pursuant to the by-laws of 9 the fire corporation, but the election of a member must be approved by 10 the town board of each town which consented to the formation of the fire 11 corporation. Such a person shall be a resident of the territory speci- 12 fied in the certificate of incorporation or of territory outside such 13 boundaries which is afforded fire protection by the fire corporation 14 pursuant to a contract for fire protection under which a cash consider- 15 ation is received by the corporation or for which negotiations for 16 renewal of such a contract are pending. The membership of any volunteer 17 member shall terminate when he or she ceases to be a resident of such 18 inside or outside territory, except that the corporation may authorize 19 his or her continued membership where he or she notifies the secretary 20 of the fire corporation (a) that he or she plans to change his or her 21 residence to a territory which is not in such inside or outside territo- 22 ry, and (b) that by reason of his or her residence in the vicinity or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10770-01-9S. 4517 2 1 his or her usual occupation he or she will be available to render active 2 service as a volunteer firefighter in either such inside or such outside 3 territory. Voting for such authorization shall be pursuant to the 4 by-laws. Such authorization shall not become effective unless approved 5 by resolution of the town board of each town which consented to the 6 formation of the corporation. Any membership so continued shall termi- 7 nate when the member can no longer meet the requirements of this subpar- 8 agraph. A person who cannot meet the residence requirements of this 9 subparagraph may be elected to membership as a volunteer member if by 10 reason of his or her residence in the vicinity or his or her usual occu- 11 pation he or she will be available to render active service as a volun- 12 teer firefighter in such inside or outside territory. Voting for such 13 election shall be pursuant to the by-laws. Such election shall not 14 become effective unless approved by resolution of the town board of each 15 town which consented to the formation of the corporation. Such member- 16 ship shall terminate when the member can no longer meet the requirements 17 of this subparagraph. The election or continuance of any person as a 18 member shall be deemed to have been approved by the town board pursuant 19 to this subparagraph in the event that no action is taken by the town 20 board, either approving or disapproving, within forty days in the case 21 of residents of the territory specified in the certificate of incorpo- 22 ration or of outside contract territory, and within seventy days in the 23 case of all others, after service of written notice of such election or 24 continuance of membership shall have been made by the secretary of the 25 corporation upon the town clerk, either personally or by mail. The 26 membership of any volunteer firefighter shall not be continued pursuant 27 to this subparagraph, and persons who do not reside in the territory 28 specified in the certificate of incorporation or in territory protected 29 pursuant to a contract for fire protection shall not be elected to 30 membership, if, by so doing, the percentage of such nonresident members 31 in the fire corporation would exceed forty-five per centum of the actual 32 membership thereof, provided, however, that the forty-five percent limit 33 on non-resident members shall not apply to the membership of the Huguen- 34 ot Fire Company, Inc., within the town of Deerpark, Orange county, to 35 the membership of the Prospect Terrace Fire Company, Inc., within the 36 town of Dickinson, Broome county, to membership of the Hopewell Volun- 37 teer Fire Department, Inc., to membership of the Wales Center Volunteer 38 Fire Company, Inc., within the town of Wales, Erie county, to the 39 membership of the Nedrow Fire Department, within the town of Onondaga, 40 Onondaga county, to the membership of the East Syracuse Fire Department, 41 within the town of Dewitt, Onondaga county, to the membership of the 42 Pleasant Square Fire Company, Inc. within the town of Johnstown, Fulton 43 county, or to membership of the fire departments within the town of 44 Fleming, Cayuga county. Nonresidents of the territory specified in the 45 certificate of incorporation whose volunteer membership has been author- 46 ized or continued pursuant to this subparagraph may be elected or 47 appointed to any office in the fire corporation and shall have all the 48 powers, duties, immunities, and privileges of resident volunteer members 49 except a non-resident of this state whose membership has been continued 50 pursuant to this subparagraph, or who was elected to membership pursuant 51 to this subparagraph, shall not be considered to be performing any fire- 52 fighting duty, or to be engaged in any firefighting activity, as a 53 member of the fire company while he or she is outside of this state 54 unless and until he or she has first reported to the officer or fire- 55 fighter in command of his or her fire department, or any company, squad 56 or other unit thereof, engaged or to be engaged in rendering serviceS. 4517 3 1 outside this state, or has received orders or authorization from an 2 officer of the fire department or fire company to participate in or 3 attend authorized activities outside of this state in the same manner as 4 resident members of the fire company. A person shall not be eligible to 5 volunteer membership in any other fire corporation or fire company at 6 one time. The provisions of this subparagraph shall not be deemed to 7 authorize the election or the continuance of any person as a member of 8 the corporation if such election or continuance of membership shall be 9 contrary to the by-laws, rules or regulations of the fire corporation. 10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.