After extending the appointment of Gorham’s acting police chief, the Town Council on Tuesday agreed to hire a firm to assist the town with filling its police chief vacancy.
The position became available when Ronald Shepard, now a town councilor, retired in November after 42 years in Gorham’s Police Department. Since, Lt. Christopher Sanborn has been the interim chief. The Town Council Tuesday voted unanimously 7-0 to extend Sanborn’s appointment until a new chief takes the helm.
Then, the Town Council voted 5-2 (Shepard and Matthew Robinson opposed) to accept a proposal from Dacri Associates in Kennebunk “to conduct a needs assessment to assist in the process of selecting the next police chief.”
Town Manager David Cole said an assessment would focus on needs of the department. The Town Council approved spending $15,000 for the assessment, with Cole to determine which town fund would be tapped to pay for it.
“I think $15,000 is a lot of money to spend,” Shepard said.
Robinson pointed out that Shepard said the town has a good in-house candidate.
“We’ve never spent $15,000” in replacing other department heads, Robinson said.
But Bruce Roullard, vice chairman of the Town Council, said the cost is a small amount for what the company would do for the town.
“The community will be involved in this,” Roullard said.
No one from the public spoke about the two agenda items.
In other action, the Town Council approved AlliedCook Construction as its construction manager for the $4.99 million makeover of its public safety complex, which includes a new building for town police. The vote was 6-0 with Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney, who is in the building supply business, recused and he stepped down from the panel.
Cole said AlliedCook will work with the town and architect on the project. Three firms were selected from five applicants and the field narrowed to three for interviews. AlliedCook and one other firm were interviewed in a second round on Jan. 19.
The Town Council also unanimously approved a measure to sell or dispose of the town-owned McLellan/Sampson House, 77 South St. Proposals for the historic property would be required to provide a restoration plan, a future use of the house, and one structured to allow use of federal and state tax credits. The town reserved the right to accept or reject any proposal.
The McLellan House was built in about 1803 and sits in the heart of the South Street Historic District designated in 1988 by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The town once utilized the house as the office for the school superintendent.
Dennis Libby, chairman of Gorham School Committee, told town councilors Tuesday that Superintendent Ted Sharp would roll out his proposed school budget at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.? ?The seven-member board will get its first look at Sharp’s proposed budget. The School Committee will review the budget details in an all-day workshop on Saturday, March 7. Sharp is retiring the end of June.
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