WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Fire District's Personnel Committee on Monday finalized a job description for the next chief and agreed to post the job with an eye toward getting a new leader in the door by March.

 

That is when Craig Pedercini is set to turn 65 and retire from a department he has served for 37 years — the last 22 as chief.

 

On Monday, the five-person Personnel Committee agreed to post the position by Dec. 1 with the hope to begin screening applicants in early January, though it left open the possibility of beginning the screening process earlier depending on the response rate.

 

The panel's goal is to present a small group of finalists to the Prudential Committee in time for it to make a hiring decision in February.

 

Committee member Fred Puddester told his colleague that Richard Duncan, a human resources professional under contract with the district, said that timeline is reasonable.

 

The committee Monday fine-tuned some of the language in the job description and finalized a couple of the job requirements for the call/volunteer fire department's only full-time employee.

 

A couple of areas that needed to be ironed out included the job's educational requirement and a potential residency requirement.

 

On the former, the committee had in the past discussed making a four-year college degree a requirement.

 

Puddester suggested that a job posting that did not make a bachelor's degree mandatory would cast a wider net.

 

"There could be someone in a rural town who has been chief of their department for 20 years but never went to college," he said. "Basically, experience can be substituted for degree requirements."

 

Lucy Gerold proposed language specifying that a bachelor's degree is preferred but commensurate experience would be considered.

 

The residency restriction generated a longer discussion.

 

"I wouldn't want to see anybody living outside of 15 minutes," Assistant Chief Michael Noyes said. "There will be other officers at the scene, but, when it all comes down to it, the chief should be the most experienced officer there. There are decisions to be made."

 

The committee agreed that it did not matter what town a prospective chief called home as long as he or she can respond to events in a timely manner.

 

After considering several options, including a requirement to live in town, in Williamstown or contiguous municipalities, or a mileage designation, the committee settled on requiring the new chief to live within 15 minutes of the fire station, preferably within six months of their hiring date.

 

The Personnel Committee also decided to include a salary range for the position in the job description but left those numbers to be filled in until after Beverly consults with Prudential Committee Chair David Moresi.