LEBANON — Selectmen will begin reviewing resumes again after the individual selected as the new fire chief tendered his resignation shortly after accepting the job.
In an email to the Journal Tribune, Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson said Mark Monroe, who has worked at Massport and the South Hampton, New Hampshire fire department, resigned after touring the stations and equipment, citing the town’s need for a full-time chief.
Thompson said Monroe told the board that a 20-hour-a-week position, which is stipend-based, wouldn’t be enough to “fix or solve problems within Lebanon Fire Department and Lebanon Rescue Department.”
Lebanon began advertising for a fire chief after longtime chief Blaine “Skip” Wood announced this fall that he intended to retire. Selectman Paul Philbrick this morning said Wood has been continuing to work as he anticipated the arrival of the new chief.
Selectmen received 18 applications for the position, which pays a set stipend that works out to $15 an hour if the chief worked a 20-hour week.
Philbrick said the stipend is set and can’t be changed without a Town Meeting vote. Lebanon’s annual Town Meeting is in June.
Thompson could not be reached this morning for further comment, but Philbrick said it has been the board’s intention that the new fire chief would also have some oversight of the rescue department, which has been struggling through various issues. Those include the news that selectmen learned late last year: The department was carrying a $200,000 deficit, the resignation a year ago of the chief and assistant chief, and difficulties involving the availability of volunteers to respond to calls.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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