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Rochester firefighter requirements could compromise chief's Lebanon coverage

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Lebanon Fire-EMS Chief Dan Meehan, left foreground, tells selectmen retiring from Rochester job will take several months at May meeting, a fact refuted by the state retirement board. (Lebanon Voice file photo)

ROCHESTER - Lebanon Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Meehan is breaking no Rochester Fire Department rules by working two full-time jobs simultaneously, Rochester's fire chief said earlier this week.

Meehan, who had promised to resign the Rochester job if his full-time chief's salary passed at a June Town Meeting, has continued to work full-time at the Gonic fire station where he is a regularly staffed firefighter, working nine or 10 24-hour shifts every month, according to Rochester Fire Chief Norm Sanborn.

Sanborn said many of his firefighters work second jobs but it is thought most of those are part time.

"We have no specific rules against that," he said. "We have other guys working other jobs. As long as they meet their requirement here, we don't care."

However, while Meehan is free to work outside the Rochester job, his availability to work in times of emergencies in Lebanon could be compromised due to Rochester firefighter policy.

Asked if Meehan, a 20-year firefighter in Rochester, could leave the Gonic firehouse where he regularly works if an emergency situation occurred in Lebanon, Sanborn said he would have to arrange for a replacement to come into the firehouse to cover his duties before he left.

Another requirement Rochester firefighters have is that they regularly go onto a scheduled call list, during which time they are subject to an immediate call-to-service. To avoid that "call" shift the individual firefighters are responsible to find a replacement worker.

Meehan in May told selectmen that if he got the full-time Lebanon job, he would retire, but that the process could take several months.

However, Marty Konlon of the New Hampshire Retirement Board, which oversees retirement benefit payouts, has refuted that, saying it just takes a few forms and a 30-day notice.

In fact, Konlon said that Meehan could have filled out the paperwork as early as April 1 to enable him to begin his retirement pension with Rochester on July 1, adding that if the June Lebanon vote had rejected his full-time Lebanon chief's job, he could have simply pulled back the paperwork on June 30.

Konlon said recently that Meehan hadn't resigned as of Sept. 1, meaning that the next window to retire isn't till Oct. 1.

Meehan currently gets $913 a week from Lebanon and about $1,154 a week from Rochester for his full-time pay in both towns. It should be noted that for three months now Meehan is also collecting both towns' employee benefits packages as well.

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