LEWISTON — On the same day county voters elected three new members to the Androscoggin County Commission, its chairman resigned.

Ronald Chicoine of Lewiston submitted a letter of resignation on Tuesday. Chicoine is selling his home and is moving out of the district.

“It saddens me to not be able to complete my full elected term,” Chicoine wrote in his resignation letter.

The resignation was effective Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Elected to the county commission in 2014, Chicoine has served as its chairman since the first of the year.

“Ron was very diligent,” County Administrator Larry Post said. “He was an excellent commissioner. I enjoyed working with him and the other commissioners also enjoyed working with him. He will be missed.”

Chicoine said he is proud of the work the commission did earlier this year to ratify a contract with county employees. Union employees had been working without a contract since 2012 before a retroactive three-year plan was ratified, but he regrets that commissioners did not extend the deal.

‘The next contract with the union — I would have liked to have gotten that done,” Chicoine said.

Another accomplishment, he said, was convincing his board to eliminate all of their health insurance benefits and to lower their salaries from $5,000 to $4,000.

A local anesthesiologist, Chicoine also enjoyed a long tenure as boys’ tennis coach at Lewiston High School, when the team won several consecutive state championships. 

According to the County Charter, Republicans who live in his Lewiston district have 30 days to hold a caucus and select an interim commissioner to serve until the next general election.

“We have a regular meeting scheduled for Nov. 14, so we may piggyback off of that for the caucus,” said Patty Gagne, chairwoman of the Androscoggin County Republican Committee.

District 2 covers much of northern Lewiston, bordering the Androscoggin River, Old Greene Road and Webster Street. A map of the district is available online.