NEWBURYPORT — The search for the city’s next fire chief is about to get underway in earnest now that the mayor’s nine-member screening committee has been selected and approved.
Fire Chief Christopher LeClaire has been on paid leave since July and Stephen Bradbury III has been serving as acting fire chief ever since, earning $143,963 a year for his work. Per a city ordinance, a nine-member fire chief screening committee needed to be formed to find LeClaire’s successor.
Mayor Sean Reardon submitted his choice for the committee members to the City Council earlier this year and the list was unanimously approved Jan. 30 with former Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins named the leader.
“We went through this process twice before when choosing LeClaire and City Marshal Mark Murray,” Cousins said. “I was on both of those committees and it worked out fine. We’ll get the mayor a group of finalists and let him pick who he wants for the department.”
Cousins said the committee will meet soon to draft a job description and the city will advertise for the position through the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
The committee also includes Murray, City Councilors Connie Preston and Jim McCauley, firefighter Kevin Parseghian, Harbormaster Paul Hogg, Topsfield Fire Chief Jen Collins-Brown, former Newburyport police Officer Nora Duggan and Human Resources Director Donna Drelick.
Cousins said he is optimistic about the search.
“It is a leadership position and we are very fortunate to have a great Fire Department that does a lot of good things,” he said. “We’re happy to have the group we have. I believe picking a new chief will be a good thing for the city and everyone who participates in the process.”
The next fire chief will soon have a new fire station to work from after the City Council unanimously approved spending an extra $3.3 million on the new West End fire station project.
The plan to build the roughly 6,800-square-foot fire station on Storey Avenue was projected to cost $5.9 million.
But citing inflationary concerns, Reardon asked the council for an additional $3.3 million.
Roughly a dozen retired and current firefighters attended the City Council meeting last week to show their support for the new fire station.
Reardon said he was happy to see the council’s unanimous vote, as well as such a show of support from the rank-and-file membership.
“It’s a lot of money for a satellite fire station on one side of town but we think it’s important,” the mayor said. “This is about the safety of our residents and safety of our firefighters. So, I think it is long overdue.”
Reardon said he hopes to send out the project’s bid documents in March.
“The best-case scenario is that we break ground around the early summer. Probably sometime in late June,” he said.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.