Board Hires New Deputy Fire Chief, Extends Contract for Current Fire Chief

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses unanimously voted Tuesday to hire Ellen E. Murray as Naugatuck’s new deputy fire chief, as well as keep Kenneth Hanks in his job as fire chief for the next four years.

The board accepted Murray’s application during a meeting Tuesday, assigning her a four-year contract with a base pay of $68,000. Murray — a former assistant fire chief in Stratford with 28 years of experience in firefighting — is filling a job that has been vacant in the Naugatuck Fire Department for the past six months, since Hanks ascended the ladder from deputy chief to interim fire chief.

Murray, 51, of Shelton, said she was “thrilled” her application was accepted. Her first day of work in Naugatuck is April 11.

“The fire chief, the firefighters, they’ve been nothing but gracious to me and I can’t wait to get started,” she said.

Murray will be paid a starting salary of $68,000 in the 2011-12 fiscal year. She will be paid contractual increases exceeding that base $68,000 pay over the following three years until June 30, 2015. According to her contract, the borough will determine those increases, likely through a negotiation process.

The contract also details sick days, personal days and benefits, which are generally part of a non-union contract. Her normal workweek is 35 hours, the contracted stated.

Murray is the paid department’s first female officer and the first person from outside the department to take on an officer job. Mayor Robert A. Mezzo praised her qualifications just prior to the vote.

“Mrs. Murray won a competitive interview process out of 10 very highly-trained applicants,” the mayor said before the vote was taken. Murray was one of three finalists in the Fire Commission’s list of applicants.

Hanks said he was excited to have Murray on the force and happy that a new deputy chief will be taking on responsibilities that he and other department officers have been handling in recent months.

“We’re going to get her set up and going,” Hanks said. “She’ll learning the day-to-day operations of the department, which is probably her biggest challenge.”

The board also voted to accept a new four-year contract between the borough and Hanks, who has been serving as an interim fire chief since last fall. Hanks will be paid a base salary of $82,417.07 from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012, plus an additional $4,754.89 for a three-week period from June 9 to June 30. In total, his salary for the 2011-12 fiscal year is $87,173.

Hanks will then be paid $84,890.65 from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, and from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015 the borough will determine Hanks’ salary increase. He will also be allocated benefits and sick days, and his normal workweek will be 35 hours.

“We’re very grateful he wants to stick around and stay on with us for the next few years,” Mezzo said.

Both new hires will be part of the borough’s defined benefit pension plans, and will be able compensated for unused sick days not exceeding 90 days.