Asked why he resigned, ex-chief says, 'You'll have to ask the selectmen'

Former Lebanon Fire and EMS chief Dan Meehan during a fire call on New Bridge Road in August. (Rochester Voice file photo)

Whether or not the former Lebanon Fire and EMS chief resigned or was fired may have been answered today by the former chief, himself.

When asked this morning why he had so abruptly resigned, as the official statement has been, former chief Dan Meehan said only, "You'll have to talk to the selectmen" before hanging up the phone.

Meehan officially resigned on Wednesday, with selectmen then calling an emergency meeting to appoint Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Mathews, whom Meehan hired, as interim chief after an executive session Wednesday afternoon.

Mathews will be publicly installed in the position later today.

The Rochester Voice has also learned that Lebanon Fire and EMS has called a department-wide meeting sometime today to apprise members of the change in leadership.

Meehan stoked controversy in the town soon after he was first hired in January 2015, first because he was not from Lebanon but Rochester; and secondly when he was allowed to use the Command Vehicle to drive back and forth from home.

In 2016 Meehan pushed through a massive budget increase, much of it created by his personal raise in chief's pay from $28,800 to around $46,800. The budget was initially overwhelmingly rejected by voters but later passed at a Special Town Meeting attended by only a couple of hundred voters days before the new fiscal year was to begin.

In return for the increase he promised to retire from his full-time Rochester firefighting job where he earned $60,000 a year to focus full time (as he put it "24/7") on Lebanon.

However, even though the process of retiring was shown to take just 30 days, according to state retirement board officials, Meehan delayed it for six months, while he still worked 10 24-hour shifts per month in Rochester.

He finally officially retired from Rochester last December.

No reason has been given for his sudden departure, nor is it clear whether his wife, Windy Rudnicki, will stay with the department.

As of today, Rudnicki was still listed on the roles as an Advanced EMT/firefighter, while Meehan's name had already been removed as a department member.

Meehan's departure is the second high-profile Lebanon official to resign in 60 days. Former code enforcement officer Mike Beaulieu resigned Sept. 18 after which selectmen learned of several questionable practices by him regarding shoreland zoning protection enforcement on residential properties bordering Milton Three Ponds.