• Controversial West Brookfield fire chief is stepping down

• By J.P. Ellery
  Correspondent

  
  Posted May. 27, 2016 at 1:35 PM
  Updated May 27, 2016 at 6:51 PM
  
  

  WEST BROOKFIELD — Selectmen this week said veteran part-time Fire Chief Paul J. Lupacchino will leave his post next month, but that does not tell the whole story.

  The chief and the board jointly announced his departure, effective June 24, the board said in a press release Thursday: Chief Lupacchino "will be leaving his position of fire chief for the Town of West Brookfield and the town will begin the search for a new fire chief immediately."

  Selectmen, who offered no reasons for the chief’s departure, said the town and the board thank Chief Lupacchino for his many years of service to the town and wish him well.

  Chief Lupacchico, 58, was named chief in 2009 and has had a 40-year career with the town’s on-call Fire Department, but his tenure as department head has been marked by frequent controversy, battles that the chief has insisted have been unjustified.

  A request to the chief for comment on his departure received no response.

  Selectman John V. Tivnan said in a past interview that the board decided a year ago not to reappoint Chief Lupacchino, who is classified under state law as a so-called "strong chief." That normally requires a hearing and reasons for nonreappointment, but Mr. Tivnan said there is no such requirement for towns as small as West Brookfield.

  Controversy arose in 2011 after a roof collapsed under the weight of snow in a commercial block owned by Douglas Aspinall on East Main Street across from Town Hall. Mr. Aspinall said the chief went too far in his requirements for renovating the structure to meet regulations.

  The next year, selectmen received complaints about Chief Lupacchino’s alleged unyielding attitude in stipulations he set for permits; particularly, his requirement that Ye Olde Tavern restaurant and pub on East Main Street install an expensive sprinkler system. The chief always defended his actions, saying he was following state law and anything short of that could put the town in legal jeopardy.

  At a hearing in July 2012, Cindy Larson, co-owner with her husband, Robert, of Ye Olde Tavern, told selectmen that Chief Lupacchino had "harassed" and "berated" her over the issue of sprinklers. Tavern operators complained that the chief was difficult to work with, a complaint echoed by several others regarding similar matters.

  The Larsons appealed their issues to the state and were granted a waiver with a reduction in requirements set by the chief.

  Other residents, though, have strongly defended the chief for going by the book and perhaps not knuckling to political pressure. Members of the Fire Department have appeared at meetings and have always backed the chief.

  In 2014, Chief Lupacchino accused two members of the town’s Advisory Committee on Finances of being biased against him. He said Thomas H. Long and Kevin Paquette should be banned from dealing with Fire Department matters, but the request was never acted on. Mr. Long and Mr. Paquette denied the allegation.

  The chief was miffed because the Advisory Committee was instrumental in having a time clock system approved for most town employees, including on-call firefighters, something the chief called unnecessary.