WESTHAMPTON — After more than 12 years in the job, Fire Chief Christopher Norris has announced he is stepping down Saturday, citing family and personal development reasons.
A subcommittee tasked with searching for Norris’ replacement has narrowed the candidates down to two members of the Fire Department, Capt. David Antosz and Deputy Chief and EMT Mark Gould. The Fire Chief Search Subcommittee hopes to present the Select Board with its final recommendation by Monday.
Norris has been fire chief since Jan. 1, 2007, and gave his notice of resignation in May after 25 years of service to the Fire Department.
Along with finishing his dissertation for his doctorate in public policy and administration, Norris is also deputy fire chief in Northampton, serves as a statewide coordinator for the Call/Volunteer Firefighter Recruit Training Program and has two children, Payton, 12, and Clare, 10.
He said the role has put a rising demand on his schedule and personal life, citing increasing administrative tasks related to being fire chief.
“It was time to step aside and put more time into finishing up school and spending more time with my daughters,” Norris said Tuesday.
Norris cited new vehicles, the ambulance transport service and the recently approved public safety complex as some of the major achievements he’s seen during his tenure as fire chief.
Though the department consists of volunteers, a raise in the fire chief’s salary and an increase in the department’s budget this year was a perfect opportunity for someone else to take over his role, he said.
“It was really a positive time to transition out,” he said.
Norris said he will not be involved formally in the department after his resignation is effective on Aug. 3, when current Assistant Chief Steve Holt would become interim fire chief. But he did say that he will continue to be available to help his replacement transition into the role.
As for his replacement, the subcommittee has already interviewed both Antosz and Gould for the position, said John Zimmerman, a firefighter with the department and a member of the subcommittee.
The subcommittee plans to meet in executive session on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Town Hall to discuss both candidates, though Zimmerman said both Antosz and Gould were highly qualified and the committee might need another meeting to make a decision.
“Both of them have a lot of experience by now and I think that’s why it’s taking such a long time to decide,” Zimmerman said. “We have two very good candidates but they are quite different from each other.”
The seven-person subcommittee is composed of members of the Fire Department and community members appointed by the Select Board, Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman said the subcommittee was looking for experience, training, leadership, communication skills and relationship to the community in a candidate. Both men exemplified these prerequisites and the subcommittee was having trouble picking one, he said.
When the subcommittee does decide, it will present its recommendation to the Select Board along with the name of the other candidate. The board will then make a decision on who to appoint as fire chief. Zimmerman did note that the board could choose someone else, though he said this was unlikely.
Zimmerman lauded Norris’ service to the town as fire chief, saying that he had brought a level of professionalism to the job which impressed him.
“It’s going to be really big shoes to fill,” Zimmerman said.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.