Fairhaven starts the search for its next fire chief as Correia plans 2027 retirement
Correia, who plans to retire in fall 2027, told the board the next exam that fits state notice rules is in August, so the department needs notice soon. The board also heard the town's first audit from a new firm, which found $2.7 million in receipts that had not been turned over to the treasurer at the end of fiscal 2025.
FAIRHAVEN Fairhaven's Select Board voted 4-0 Monday night to approve Fire Chief Todd Correia's timeline for hiring his successor and to let the Fire Department's administrative assistant call for the civil service exam, starting the search for a new chief well ahead of Correia's planned retirement in fall 2027.
"I just want to make sure we have enough notice to start the process and select the next fire chief, and I want to be part of that process, open and transparent," Correia told the board. He said the department had contacted the state's civil service office and learned that the next exam, in February, came too soon under the notice rules, leaving the August exam, on a date not yet set. "We have to give the personnel within the fire department at least six months notice to take that examination," he said. "With the holidays coming up, I think that time is of the essence here."
Town Administrator Keith Hickey called the civil service process "pretty clear cut." Chair Andrew Romano, Vice Chair Natalie Mello, Clerk Pamela Kuechler and member Richard Trapilo voted for the motion. Member Andrew Saunders was absent for a family matter, Romano said early in the meeting.
One member, noting that the board has talked about regionalization as its budget working group looks at deficits three or four years out, asked whether starting the exam would rule out sharing fire and ambulance service with other towns. The two can move ahead at the same time, Romano answered, adding that the board was "not committing tonight to even hiring anyone that comes back on the list."
The timeline
In a Nov. 4 letter to Romano, Correia wrote that the town must give the department six months' notice before the exam, no later than Feb. 1, 2027, for an exam on or after Aug. 1, 2027, and recommended giving notice "well before" that deadline. He cited the May town meeting vote to keep civil service and wrote that "department members have expressed interest in the position." Monday's vote clears the department to call for that exam now, months ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline.
Rules for hiring designers
The board also voted 4-0 to adopt designer selection procedures under the state's design services law, which Correia said town lawyers flagged when they reviewed the request for qualifications for a new public safety complex that the board authorized in September. Correia chairs the Public Safety Complex Committee, and he said the procedures apply town-wide. In a second 4-0 vote, the board amended its September vote to make that committee the authority that runs the selection, with final contracts still coming back to the board.
Town counsel contract
The board voted 3-1 to let Hickey sign the town's general and labor counsel contract with the Wellesley law firm Harrington Heep LLP, which the board chose on Oct. 26. Mello, who reviewed the contract with Hickey, said it matched the firm's final offer. Trapilo pointed out that the six-month price guarantee he expected was not in the document, and the board added a commitment that the price holds for six months from the contract's start. The fee agreement in the board's packet sets a flat $15,000 a month starting Dec. 1, about $180,000 a year by our math, with other lawsuits billed at $225 an hour for attorneys and $150 for paralegals.
Audit finds late receipts
Tony Roselli of Roselli, Clark and Associates, the town's new auditor, presented the fiscal 2025 audit, the firm's first for Fairhaven. He reported no material weaknesses but said the cash reconciliation process was "very inefficient." About $2.7 million in receipts collected by the collector's office had not been turned over to the treasurer at the end of the fiscal year, he said, including one $600,000 receipt from June 2025 that did not reach the treasurer until March 2026.
Roselli also reported an unexplained gap of about $62,000 between the town's general ledger and the treasurer's cash, which he said has since narrowed to about $20,000 to $25,000 after an IRS withdrawal of about $35,000 was identified, and a Blue Cross Blue Shield payment about $152,000 more than the amount due. He counted 44 town bank accounts and recommended cutting them to 15 or 20. He said a consultant hired in 2026 and the town's new treasurer are working through the findings.
Other business
The board voted unanimously to accept a $118,500 MassDOT unpaved roads equipment grant for the Board of Public Works, to join the opioid settlement with Albertsons Companies, and to send its cover letter on state local aid, as amended, to leaders of other South Coast cities and towns. It voted unanimously to have Hickey draft a policy for criminal record checks on people applying or reapplying for the town's volunteer boards and commissions, and tabled Hickey's fiscal 2028 budget calendar to its next meeting. Hickey reported that the Fire Department won two state fire education grants, $5,568 for students and $2,371 for seniors.
What comes next
The special town meeting preview is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at Hastings Middle School, and the special town meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. The board meets next on Monday, Nov. 23. The Fire Department now calls for the chief's exam through the state's civil service process.
Our preview of the meeting has the full agenda.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The votes, the members present and every remark quoted come from Fairhaven TV's video of the meeting, which we watched Nov. 10; each vote was checked against the four members present. The video does not show which member cast the one no vote on the town counsel contract, so it is not named. Correia's timeline, the board officers and the contract terms come from the board's posted Nov. 9 packet, read Nov. 5. The $180,000 yearly figure is our math. Nov. 9, 2026, is a Monday; Feb. 1, 2027, a Monday; Aug. 1, 2027, a Sunday.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (3)
- Fairhaven TV, "Select Board 11/9/26," video of the Select Board meeting, Nov. 9, 2026The votes, members present and the remarks quoted, time stamps in our notes. Watched Nov. 10, 2026.
- Town of Fairhaven, Select Board agenda, Nov. 9, 2026 (clerk stamp Nov. 5, 2026, 2:10 p.m.)Town of Fairhaven. Items and order. Read Nov. 5, 2026.
- Town of Fairhaven, Select Board public packet, Nov. 9, 2026 (66 pages)Correia's Nov. 4 letters; Harrington Heep fee agreement; MassDOT agreement; board officers. Read Nov. 5, 2026.