Lee begins search for new fire chief

Lee — If all goes according to plan, the town will seat its new fire chief early next year.

In a telephone interview with The Berkshire Edge, Town Administrator Christopher Brittain detailed the hiring process that will begin with a seven-member search committee to be approved by the Lee Select Board on November 17. That committee will include Brittain, Human Resources and Payroll Administrator Vanessa Horne and Building Commissioner Matt Kollmer, as well as representatives from the town’s Police Department, Career Firefighters Union, and volunteer call firefighters, in addition to a member of the public.

Brittain recommended the prescreening committee protocol to the Select Board during the group’s last meeting on November 3. “We felt this would be the best, most open and transparent process,” he said.

The position was posted during the week of November 2, Brittain said, and applications have already rolled in, with five applications received as of November 9. A few people reached out to Brittain’s team with an interest in serving on the search committee after Select Board member Sean Regnier put out a call for the position.

The search committee’s first meeting is slated for shortly after Thanksgiving, with application reviews and closed preliminary interviews with candidates to follow in December. The top two or three finalists will then meet with the Select Board in an early January public session. The Select Board will make the final appointment, and an official offer to the top candidate may be conveyed by mid- or late January, with a potential start date in February.

“It’s not an internal search,” Regnier said. “This is an open search to anyone interested who would be qualified, who would want to fill this position for the town.”

Lt. Brian Schultz has been serving as acting chief since former Fire Chief Ryan Brown was placed on administrative leave in September. Ryan subsequently resigned on October 22 following a two-hour disciplinary hearing held that day.

“Obviously, there will be some transition time—it will depend a little bit on who the final person is that the [Select] Board selects,” Brittain said, adding that the length of that transition period will depend on the new hire’s experience and their familiarity with the department. “Right now, we have an application from as far away as Florida,” he said.

The search for a new fire department head comes on the heels of the town’s hiring of Lee Police Chief Stephanie Burdick this past spring, amounting to a leadership turnover in both public safety departments within a year. Burdick brought a long history of service with the department. “As far as the police goes, there was an internal candidate who had been with the police department for almost 30 years so that was not a huge adjustment to make,” Brittain said. “On the fire department, [the adjustment factor] remains to be seen based on who applies and who gets the job.”

Referencing the $36.7 million Lee Public Safety Building project set to open next summer, Brittain advocated that “there’s been no change to the construction of the new fire department.” The facility will become the new home of the town’s police, fire, and emergency services departments. “Everything’s going to plan, and we don’t anticipate any changes to that,” he said.

Lee begins search for new fire chief

Comments