TOWNSEND — The Board of Selectmen made a number of changes to how the Fire Department functions, including a temporary shuffling of employees and changes to its rules and regulations.
First, the board entertained a request from fire Chief Donald Klein to take the duties that had normally been performed by EMS Director Wanda Goodwin and to divide them among other departmental employees, pending the hiring of her replacement.
Klein was forced into the contingency upon Goodwin’s resignation, which he attributed to “irreconcilable differences” between herself and the department over scheduling.
Goodwin and the department, it seemed, could not agree on a change in the hours worked by the director.
As a result, the chief asked selectmen to permit him to divide Goodwin’s duties among other employees. Klein also asked for a delay in hiring a replacement while he reviewed the EMS director position to find out the exact needs of the job.
With April 15 as Goodwin’s last day on the job, selectmen voted to approve the chief’s request.
The board also voted to approve slight changes to the Fire Department’s rules and regulations dealing with the definition of a “general order” and the job description manual calling the department’s standard operating guidelines an “organic document” that can be revised by the chief from time to time.
Also at its meeting of April 8, selectmen voted to approve the town’s application for grants from the state Highway Department to help cover the cost of a number of roadway improvements in town, including repaving and sidewalk construction.
If approved, one grant would give the town $164,820 for the resurfacing of a 1 mile stretch of Dudley Road. A second grant would award the town $42,109 to help cover the cost of replacing existing sidewalks and granite curbing for 600 feet along the east side of Route 119, along Oak Street, School Street from Route 13 heading north for 615 feet, and 400 feet at the intersection of Brookline and Highland Streets.
