WORTHINGTON — Voters in Worthington overwhelmingly rejected making the fire chief position a full-time role at Saturday’s annual Town Meeting.
The article that would have changed the chief’s position from a $5,608-a-year part-time position to a $65,000-a-year full-time position met defeat by a wide margin: 26 for to 123 against.
The full-time position would have also come with health insurance, although the article that included insurance for the chief was not voted on once the full-time position article was rejected.
“We need something to revive our fire department,” said Select Board Chairwoman Amy Wang.
And although she acknowledged that having a full-time chief was perhaps not the solution, she maintained that something needs to be done to revitalize the department, which suffers from a lack of volunteers.
“We’ll have to come up with new ideas,” Wang said.
The fire chief position is currently being filled on an interim basis by its former fire chief, Kyle Challet, who tendered his resignation in March. However, Challet is staying on as interim chief until a replacement is found.
Despite voting down the full-time position, Town Meeting did vote to increase compensation for the part-time chief’s position to $6,265.
All of the other articles on the warrant passed, with the exception of one that asked to transfer money from the General Stabilization Fund for a 10-wheel dump truck. That article was removed by the head of the highway department, who said that the truck it would have replaced could be repaired.
One notable article that passed legalizes new accessory dwelling units in town under certain parameters. Transferring money from the General Stabilization Fund for a new police vehicle also passed Town Meeting.