Fairhaven board to take up search for retiring fire chief's successor and a $15,000-a-month legal contract

FAIRHAVEN Fairhaven's Select Board will be asked Monday, Nov. 9, to start the state exam process for a new fire chief, since Chief Todd Correia plans to retire in fall 2027.

The agenda also asks the board to approve a flat-fee contract with the Wellesley law firm Harrington Heep LLP for town counsel and labor work, at $15,000 a month starting Dec. 1. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 40 Center St.

The fire chief timeline

In a Nov. 4 letter to Chair Andrew Romano, Correia wrote that the town needs to begin working with the state Human Resources Division to produce a list of candidates. He cited the May town meeting vote to keep civil service and asked the town to start the civil service fire chief exam for the titles eligible to take it. "Department members have expressed interest in the position," he wrote.

The state requires six months of notice to the department before the exam, Correia wrote, so the town must give notice no later than Feb. 1, 2027, for an exam on or after Aug. 1, 2027. He recommended giving notice "well before" that deadline.

The letter also lays out an option: the town could hire a private assessment center instead of waiting for the statewide exam, with state approval, but it would pay the vendor for each applicant on top of candidate processing fees.

Rules for the public safety complex

Correia, who chairs the Public Safety Complex Committee, is also asking the board to adopt written designer selection procedures. In a second Nov. 4 letter he wrote that legal counsel reviewing a draft request for qualifications, which the board authorized in September for the public safety facilities project, found the town had not yet adopted the written procedures state law requires before such a design contract is advertised.

He asked the board to let his committee review applicants, interview them and rank at least three finalists, with the Select Board keeping the final choice. The request for qualifications cannot be advertised until the procedures are adopted, the letter says.

What the legal contract covers

The board voted Oct. 26 to enter a contract with Harrington Heep, the agenda notes say, and Monday's item asks it to approve the contract itself. The firm's fee agreement in the packet sets the $15,000 monthly flat fee, about $180,000 a year by our math, for general legal work, labor and employment matters, collective bargaining support, attendance at up to two Select Board meetings a month and at town meetings, and an attorney at Town Hall twice a month. Other lawsuits would be billed at $225 an hour for attorneys and $150 an hour for paralegals.

Money and other business

Public Works Superintendent Vinnie Furtado wrote that a $118,500 MassDOT grant for unpaved roads, plus the trade-in value of the town grader, will buy a new skid-steer with grader and rake attachments for gravel roads, snow removal and shaping roads before paving. With the grant and trade-in, he wrote, "this purchase is at no cost to the Town." The MassDOT agreement in the packet reimburses the town up to $118,500 and says any cost above that is the town's to pay. The board is asked to accept the money.

Town Administrator Keith Hickey proposes an earlier fiscal 2028 budget calendar in a Nov. 4 memo. Department requests would be due Dec. 21, compared with last year's Jan. 9 deadline, and his recommended budget would go to the Select Board and Finance Committee on Jan. 18, compared with Jan. 26 last year, which he wrote would give both boards an additional week to review it. He also asks the School Department for its preliminary request by Jan. 15 rather than Feb. 1.

Hickey wants the School Committee's final budget recommendation by March 17, while the School Department's schedule sets the committee's final budget vote for April 28. If the committee cannot meet March 17, he wrote, he will recommend a school appropriation that meets the town's net school spending requirement, and the final amount may differ from what the committee recommends or approves.

Board members Richard Trapilo and Pamela Kuechler worked with Executive Assistant Amy Hart on a cover letter inviting leaders in New Bedford, Fall River, Westport, Dartmouth, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham, Rochester and Acushnet to join one letter to state lawmakers and the governor seeking more state aid. "The more effectively we communicate those common interests, the greater our opportunity to ensure that the South Coast remains a visible and influential voice in discussions about state funding priorities," the draft says.

The board will also hear the fiscal 2025 audit from Roselli, Clark and Associates and a review of the town's investments from Bartholomew and Company, discuss Trapilo's proposal to require criminal record checks for people applying to town boards or committees, and consider joining an opioid settlement with Albertsons Companies, which special counsel recommends.

How to watch or weigh in

The meeting is open to the public at Town Hall and on Zoom (meeting ID 860 2838 7081, or call 1-929-205-6099), and it airs on Channel 97 and FairhavenTV.com. Public comment comes early in the agenda, and Zoom speakers raise a hand and use their full name to be unmuted, the town says.

A special town meeting preview is set for Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Walter Silveira Auditorium at Hastings Middle School, ahead of the special town meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. The board meets next on Monday, Nov. 23.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.