Board of Selectmen Meeting, April 17, 2023

Complaints About Disciplinary Action Taken Against the Fire Chief and Fire Lieutenant

Complaints About Disciplinary Action Taken Against the Fire Chief and Fire Lieutenant

Two citizens complained about how the town has treated the Fire Chief and Fire Lieutenant. One citizen argued that the board incorrectly treated the Fire Chief as a town employee. According to the town’s bylaws, the Fire Chief should have been treated as an elected official.  On this matter the board decided to request input on the question from the town’ attorney.

Another citizen expressed how disappointed he was in how the town is treating its Fire Chief and the Lieutenant, pointing out that the Chief has been a member of the department for 30 years and the Lieutenant has been a member for 17 years.

“After 25 days the public still doesn’t know what the accusations are. In contrast, the town has a public works director who has been accused of assaulting an employee. It doesn’t seem like anything has been done to him. This is disgusting the way this is being handled. I don’t know who is advising you, but it doesn’t make sense. They should at least have been told what the accusations are. If the accusations are proven to be false, good luck on getting them back to serve this community again.”

Ben Bartlett responded, “for the record, the two employees being referred to, the Fire Chief and Lieutenant, are on paid administrative leave. It is not suspension.

Other Issues

• Road grading began last week.

• The town’s new ambulance is tentatively scheduled for arrival in October

• The board elected Ben Bartlett as its Chairman and John Morin as Vice-Chairman

Watch the video: