Essex Select Board Conditionally Awards Siding Contract, Launches Fire Department Governance Review

ESSEX — June 22, 2026 — Essex Select Board opens review of fire department governance while conditionally awarding a public safety building siding contract. The board agreed Monday to convene a special session with the Board of Fire Engineers and fire company representatives to discuss whether Essex should abandon its current Board of Fire Engineers model — one of only nine such structures still operating in Massachusetts — in favor of a full-time fire chief under either the state's "weak chief" or "strong chief" statute, a change that would require a fall Town Meeting vote. Town Administrator Brendan told the board that roughly 60 percent of Massachusetts municipalities use the weak chief model, and cautioned against jumping "after 200 years of one model, which is the weakest form, moving straight to the most authoritative form." The fire company has expressed a preference for the strong chief model. On contracting, the board unanimously authorized the board chair to sign a deal with low bidder JLN Companies LLC of North Andover — at $154,287 out of a bid range stretching to nearly $288,000 — contingent on Town Counsel confirming the award is legally required and on satisfactory reference checks; the project is expected to begin within three weeks of award and take three to five months. The board also renewed the town's ambulance billing contract with Comstar at a 7 percent fee, approved a conflict-of-interest exemption for new Board of Public Works member Derek Kowalski, and ratified a memorandum of agreement with the AFSCME union following a brief executive session.