From staff reports

TURNER – Selectmen appointed a new fire chief Monday night after voting unanimously to accept the resignation of interim Chief Shane Arsenault.

By a vote of 4-1, selectmen chose Michael Arsenault from among four applicants, narrowed to two finalists in a closed-door session. Both finalists are members of the Turner Fire Department.

Selectmen chose Arsenault, who is not related to Shane Arsenault, because he was the most qualified of the four applicants, Chairman Dennis Richardson said Tuesday.

“And he gets along with just about everybody,” Richardson said, adding that some firefighters who had resigned in recent years were waiting for a leadership change.

With that change, six rejoined the department Tuesday morning, he said.

Arsenault, 41, has served on the Turner Fire Department for 15 years, five as assistant chief. He is a certified firefighter and a certified firefighting instructor, he said Tuesday.

Fire chief is an annual appointment, which means Arsenault’s term will expire June 30, 2007, but he could be reappointed.

Selectman Henry Gibbert opposed the motion to appoint Arsenault, stating that he favored Ross Gagne, the other finalist.

“There’s not a man in this town that isn’t capable of taking on the fire chief’s job,” Gibbert said. Gagne “has been a fireman for years, and I think he is the most capable, and that’s who I recommend.”

Gibbert nominated Gagne as fire warden, and the motion was approved.

Arsenault confirmed that six members had returned to the department Tuesday morning. He said others are welcome to join.

“I’m hoping we are going to move in a positive direction,” he said.

Background

Shane Arsenault was appointed interim chief on May 1 when former Chief Steven Fish resigned unexpectedly at a board meeting. Arsenault’s term as interim chief was to end July 3, but he resigned June 8, claiming selectmen had made decisions without apprising him.

“Events that happened with prior fire Chief Steve Fish I believe have followed myself, which is unfair,” Arsenault wrote in his resignation. “I should have been given a clean slate as a new chief and not been judged on prior incidents.”

Fish resigned after more than a year of legal haggling and official squabbling over the failure of selectmen to reappoint him in June 2005 to the post he had held for more than 10 years.

When the board finally did reappoint Fish – with conditions – relations continued to be strained.

Much of the discord came from the failure of Fish and Arsenault to get a fire vehicle that has been out of action for more than two years back in service. Last Monday, selectmen voted to take the job of getting the truck back on the road away from Fish and Arsenault, and turn it over to a local mechanic. The board decided that the work would be paid from the Fire Department budget.

Selectmen said Monday night that Shane Arsenault would remain on the Fire Department.

Freelance writer Adam Rousseau contributed to this report.