Northfield moves toward hybrid fire chief governance and begins OPM procurement for EMS site

The Northfield Select Board on March 17 reviewed recommendations from a Fire Department organizational review and discussed next steps for the town’s EMS site project.

Russ Anderson of Fire Service Consulting explained differences between a "weak chief" model, in which the Select Board serves as appointing authority and has removal authority, and a "strong chief" model, in which the chief has more operational independence. Fire Chief Dunnell said the department prefers maintaining the current collaborative (weak chief) practice. The board and department agreed to pursue a hybrid approach documented through a memorandum of understanding that would clarify which practices remain in Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs) and which are covered by town personnel policy.

Separately, EMS Chief Wolkenbreit reported demolition at the EMS site is complete except for the garage and a temporary structure. The Emergency Services Facility Committee (ESFC) recommended advertising a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to hire an Owner's Project Manager (OPM) per procurement law for larger projects. Town Administrator Andrea Llamas outlined that the RFQ will allow the town to negotiate with a project manager who would then organize an RFP for design and construction; ESFC will screen, rank and score candidates and forward recommendations to the Select Board for interviews. The RFQ will be advertised next week and ESFC expects initial results in about 3–4 weeks; the procurement sequence is projected to take a few months.

Next steps include updating draft Fire Department organizational documents and SOGs (Anderson and Dunnell to reconcile items), completing that review before the warrant closes at the end of March to allow possible warrant inclusion, and advertising the OPM RFQ.