The three-year contract was approved after a brief executive session at the tail end of Wednesday s meeting. He is good to go, Town Administrator Jay Green said. He has a sergeants meeting scheduled for that week and is raring to go. Interim Police Chief Troy Bacon had declined to move into the permanent position leaving the Selectmen to undergo another search for a permanent chief. In early December, the board voted to appoint Kelley, who is chief of police at South Carolina s Spartanburg Community College. In other business, the selectmen approved a payment in lieu of taxes agreement for the construction of a 5.6-megawatt solar field on Duke s Gravel Pit on Grove Street.
A storm could bring heavy rain, strong winds and flooding to New England on Christmas morning, prompting a top official to urge residents to prepare for power.
On Wednesday, the board interviewed Kelley and former Egremont Police Chief Erik Josephson, the two remaining finalists from a nationwide search that yielded 37 applications. Selectman John Duval, who placed Kelley s name in nomination on Thursday evening, said the difference for him was that Kelley reminded him of current Interim Police Chief Troy Bacon. We were very fortunate to hire Chief Bacon after a long search, and he fell right into place, in my opinion, Duval said. His personality, his leadership skills really meshed well with the department we have, which is a younger force than we had in the past.