Allain, Egan, Haddad named to Fire Chief Study Committee; Roy wrestles for spot

The Select Board changed up the makeup of the Fire Chief Search Committee to increase fire department inclusion.

The change was made on the urging of Fire Captain Rick Allain, who was vying for what was then a single fire department seat along with Fire Captain Bob Egan.

“This will be the biggest change this department has gone through,” said Allain, who has logged more than 40 years on the fire department and served on the Fire Chief Study Committee. Allain will retire in 2022 due to the state’s mandatory retirement at age 65 policy.

The five-member committee originally had two Select Board seats, already designated for Select Board member Colleen Roy and Chair Peter Carlson. Allain argued that since the Select Board had final say, they still had plenty of input into the decision.

Board members agreed, first unanimously voting in Allain and adding Egan, a 20+ year veteran, later in the meeting.

Fire Chief Micky Gauthier is retiring at the end of the year and will be replaced with Grafton’s first full-time “strong” fire chief, with the ability to hire and fire. 

Finding a replacement has been a challenging process. Back in October, the Select Board interviewed three men for fire chief, making the offer to Michael Thurz, the Glastonbury, Connecticut chief. Thurz declined the next day, leaving the town without a replacement for Gauthier, who retires at the end of the year. Rather than choose from the remaining candidates, the Select Board opted to hit re-start on the search, appointing Fire Captain Paul Cournoyer as interim chief.

The Select Board also chose Mark Haddad as the at-large member from the community by a 3-2 vote. 

Select Board member Ray Mead, a former Grafton Fire Department deputy chief, pushed for Tim Rodrique, who served in an on-call fire department for a decade as well as worked for the Department of Fire Services. Member Mat Often agreed.

Haddad, as town manager for Groton, has hired three fire chiefs. In Grafton, he is a member of the Finance Committee and chaired the Town Administrator Search Committee that chose Evan Brassard as a finalist.

While Carlson had been reluctant to accept appointment to the fire chief committee, he confessed that he changed his mind. Roy, however, pointed out that she had wanted to be on the committee from the start and challenged him to arm wrestle for the spot. Roy retained the seat.

Editor’s note: While Carlson apparently threw the wrestling match, Roy looked more than ready to win on her own merits.

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