North Brookfield Select Board Appoints Three-Member Fire Chief Search Committee

NORTH BROOKFIELD — June 30, 2026 — North Brookfield Select Board names a three-person fire chief search panel and works through a round of year-end transfers. At its June 30 meeting the board unanimously appointed Brookfield Fire Chief Pete Martel, North Brookfield Police Chief Ryan Daly, and firefighter Mario Polanco to screen candidates for the vacant fire chief position, with Martel describing a matrix-based process that previously narrowed 23 police chief applicants to nine before any interviews. The board also approved a job description for the position and hired Tyler Goyette as a highway department employee. During public comment, Planning Board member and ZBA Chair Karen Duback warned of potential legal exposure from the Planning Board's clerk vacancy, saying the board faces a major solar-project hearing on July 8 with no one to handle statutory notices, minutes, or Registry of Deeds filings. The board approved payroll warrant 26 for $527,919.35, school warrant 1106 for $193,200.79, and general fund warrant 1107 for $142,276.54, along with dozens of line-item fiscal year-end transfers, and tabled a $925 HVAC maintenance request for the Council on Aging pending a second quote.