Ultimately, Standish officials did not have to look far to find a new fire chief and director of public safety.

Standish resident and Deputy Chief Brent Libby, 26, was chosen by a search committee that received almost 50 applications for the positions, according to Town Manager Gordon Billington.

Billington will ask for town council approval for the appointment at a meeting Sept. 9.

The position opened after town councilors voted 4-3 June 3 not to re-appoint Martin Jordan, who had served as fire chief and public safety director for more than three years. The vote came as a surprise to Jordan, Billington and some councilors,

In Libby’s four years with the Standish fire department he has advanced from lieutenant to captain, and to deputy chief over a year ago. This is also Libby’s 11th year as a member of the Gorham Fire Department and he graduated in 2002 from paramedicine program at Southern Maine Community College.

“I’ve had an opportunity to see how the department works,” Libby said Wednesday. “This is the next challenge.”

With town council approval, Libby will lead a department of two full-time administrators, including himself, four full-time dispatchers, a part-time animal control officer, a part-time fire inspector and 85 volunteers. Libby said well over half of the department’s members are active, and that there is a lot of pride within the department.

“The camaraderie is great,” Libby said. “It’s truly a family outside of your family.”

Fire department personnel work out of three fire stations with an annual operating budget of around $890,000. They protect 68 square miles and responded to 1,621 calls in 2007. The town first appointed a full-time fire chief and director of public safety in 2001. Libby will be the fourth to fill the position.

The town council vote not to reappoint Jordan led Councilor Carolyn Biegel to propose amending a town ordinance to get rid of the requirement to appoint the public safety director on an annual basis.

According to minutes from the July 8 meeting, Biegel said the fire chief is the only department head requiring a yearly appointment, adding that all department heads are professional positions and should not be subject to political influences.

Biegel said residents had asked her why Jordan had been let go and she had no explanation. The proposed amendment was sent to the Ordinance Committee.

Brent Libby, 26, was chosen as the next fire chief and director of public safety in Standish.