HOPE — “The entire department is going to go through enormous change,” said Hope Town Administrator Samantha Mank. “I think it’s really important to acknowledge that not one man is having a challenge to rise to, but everybody is going to have to band together for the same challenge, and that it’s going to be a very huge team effort.”

Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the Hope Select Board led its residents into a new era regarding the Hope Fire Dept. when it confirmed the first new fire chief in 37 years. A new ordinance pertaining to the FD also changes how the FD operates, including the fact that the fire chief no longer needs to reside in Hope, nor does the department elect its own chief.

Following a quiet announcement of retirement by Clarence Keller a couple of months ago, there was considerable interest among Hope firefighters for the lead position, according to Select Board vice chair and firefighter Charlie Weidman, during the meeting.

A committee of regional fire chiefs, firefighters, and others put applicants through a rigorous five-phase process with a written, an oral, and a practical exam of simulating not only coordinating a fire scene, but also of verbalizing gear operation as if they were instructing a new person on how to perform a task.

Eventually, the field of applicants narrowed to one, which Mank and Keller signed off on, though they were only silent observers to the committee’s interviews, according to Mank.

The committee nominated Deputy Chief Michael Eaton to take the helm. Noah Rousseau steps into the role of Deputy Chief. Eaton was informed of his new position and happened to be out of state visiting relatives during the June 24 confirmation.

“Which is good,” said Weidman. “Because his life is going to get a lot busier.”

Like the Public Works department, the Chief position is compensated through a yearly stipend approved in the annual budget. In explaining to Select Board members how the compensation process works, Mank said: “It’s a stipend. You’re going to get this amount of money no matter how much time you put in. You could work 6,000 hours and still get the same amount of money.”

In a recent annual budget submission Keller requested a fulltime chief position.

“I did it mostly to raise awareness of what I feel is an investment in the future of the fire department in the town of Hope,” said Keller. “And one of the major reasons for me getting done is the amount of time that is required, especially for the level of responsibility and everything that has to be done.”

Mank said that someday Hope will lure some businesses to the Route 17 corridor, which would bring in the revenue needed to begin increasing services within the Town, starting with Fire and Public Works.

Keller stated that it’s imperative that the Town work toward a full time chief position. The FD has a strong group of volunteers, according to Keller. But if the Town loses those volunteers, then Hope would have to join with another town and pay Hope’s fair share of the full-time firefighters. That, said Keller would be far more expensive than just one full-time chief.

“It’s complex,” said Keller. “There’s a lot of moving pieces as we move forward. There’s some growing pains. But I think there’s some cool stuff that’s going to be happening in the next four or five years.”

Although Keller is putting aside his chief’s hat, he remains the Emergency Management Agency director for the Town of Hope.

His message to the Fire Department and to Hope: One team, one goal, and everybody goes home.

A retirement ceremony for Chief Clarence Keller will be held Saturday, July 12, at 1 p.m., at the Hope Corner Fire Station. The public is welcome to attend.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com