Town Administrator Tim Bragan announced late last week that the town would not be renewing Fire Chief Bob Mignard’s contract, which is due to expire at the end of December.

A press release issued by Bragan on July 1 states that “after a long effort to reconcile mutually agreed upon goals and responsibilities” of the fire chief, the Board of Selectmen made a decision not to renew his employment contract.

Bragan told the Press that the vote not to renew was unanimous, with the exception of Chairman Peter Warren, who recused himself from all discussions concerning Mignard because his son is an officer of the Fire Department.

Bragan said that in June 2009, when Mignard’s contract was up for a three-year renewal, selectmen opted to extend the contract for only one year, through June 30, 2010. He explained that in late December he met with Mignard, and the two developed a set of mutually agreed upon goals, which were presented to selectmen. The board decided to extend Mignard’s contract for six more months, to Dec. 31 of this year.

Progress against the goals was reviewed with Mignard in May, Bragan said, and in a June meeting with Mignard, Bragan advised him that his recommendation to selectmen would be to not renew the contract, since the conditions laid out in the list of goals had not been met. Bragan noted that he and Mignard held differing opinions on whether those goals had been met.

In a conversation with the Press this week, Mignard reiterated what he conveyed to selectmen in a letter on June 22: that the list of goals Bragan referred to were the result of conversations in which he talked about what he’d like to see “in a perfect world,” and that he was surprised that they were made into, essentially, conditions of employment.

Mignard maintains that his department is stronger and more professional than ever and that firefighters are better trained than when he became chief in 2004. He noted that it was difficult managing a department of volunteers, but said, “They all do a good job, and that’s the bottom line. In my opinion, we have a good product.”

Fire Department Lieutenant Tony Shaw told the Press that department members did not see this change coming, and added that it wasn’t prompted by complaints from the ranks. Bragan noted that when he made the announcement to Mignard’s staff last week, they were surprised, but he said he believes they will be supportive of the decision, a view restated by Shaw.

Asked about the selectmen’s unanimous decision in the absence of a face-to-face hearing with Mignard, Selectman Tim Clark said that, procedurally, selectmen deal with department heads through Bragan, whose role is “like a chief operating officer.” But he said he believes the decision about the contract was “the right outcome for the town,” adding, “I’m satisfied that we had a long and extensive process to review the issues.”

So Mignard’s role will come to an end as of Dec. 31. He said, “It’s my intention to fulfill my contract through December and leave the department in better shape than I found it. I’m not going to be some lame-duck chief.”

The press release issued by Bragan states that over the next six months selectmen will be “actively, transparently, and carefully examining all leadership models available…” Asked to elaborate, he said those models could include a part-time chief, a contract with another town, regionalization of services, or any other model that presents itself. Cost will not be the driving factor, he said, only “what’s best for the Fire Department and the town.”