Two More Appointed To Fire Station Building Committee - Select Board Expands Panel To Nine Members

ORLEANS – What do you do when you have two qualified committee candidates but only one open seat?

 If you’re the select board, you vote to add another seat to the committee.

 That’s what the board did July 9, when it voted to add a ninth seat to the new fire rescue station building committee and appoint two new at-large members to serve on it.

 With the appointment of Rick Cianfaglione and Emily Miller, the committee now includes four at-large community members, as well as Fire Chief Geof Deering, Public Works Director Rich Waldo, Mark Mathison as the committee representative to the select board, and representatives from the Orleans Elementary School committee and the town manager’s office.

 At its June 25 meeting, the board interviewed and appointed two at-large members, Peter Coneen and David Lyttle. The board opted to delay appointing a third at-large member until July 9 to allow Cianfiglione and Miller, who could not make the June 25 meeting, the chance to interview.

 For Cianfaglione, who moved to Oreans with his family in June 2023, the ability to serve on the building committee carries personal significance. He recalled how the town’s fire department twice saved his mother-in-law’s life before her passing in April.

 “I think that this would be a really good way to kind of give something back to a group of individuals that made an impact on my life here, even though I’ve only been here about two years,” he said.

 Miller, a Washington, D.C. native, moved to Orleans full time in 2016 after several years visiting the town. A journalist and novelist, she has also taught at the high school and college levels. Since 2020, she has been one of the lead writers behind the online local news site Exit 89.

 “The five years since have taught me more about municipal government in general and Orleans government in particular than I ever expected to know,” she said.

 Miller is the incoming president of the parent teacher council at Orleans Elementary School, where her daughter is entering fourth grade. She also sits on OES’ in-house school council.

 The role of the building committee should be to represent the voices and concerns of all members of the community regarding construction of a new fire station, Miller told the select board. 

 “I want a new fire-rescue station to be built,” she said. “It’s a big ask of a lot of these people, no matter what the number turns out to be. I think that by listening, truly listening, to as many stakeholders as possible, we can all work together to make it happen.”

 Michael Herman of the select board made a motion to add a ninth seat to the committee to allow both Cianfaglione and Miller to be appointed.

 Select board member Mefford Runyon expressed some reluctance to the motion, noting that his preference was for a smaller committee.

 “Part of the way we said we would control [the committee’s membership]...is that everybody in town, including the people who expressed interest here, are invited to be present and participate in the process,” he said. “They don’t have to be voting members.”

 Board Chair Kevin Galligan said with the quality of applicants that have come forward with interest in serving, deciding whom to appoint has been difficult. He said both Cianfaglione and Miller would bring good experience and skill sets to the building committee. 

 “I’m kind of leaning toward liking your motion, Michael,” he said.

 Cianfaglione's extensive background in construction made an impression on Mathison, who said the board needed someone with strong financial credentials to help keep the project grounded cost-wise.

 “I know with my own experiences with construction that people really have visions, and those visions cost a lot of money,” he said. “Somewhere along the line, you need to bring in reality and make it cost-efficient and doable. So I’m looking at ‘Who’s doing that?’”

 Mathison also voiced support for Miller's focus on representing everyone in the community during the process of preparing the new station design.

 The board voted 4-1 in favor of expanding the committee and appointing Cianfaglione and Miller, with Runyon voting against. Assistant Town Manger Mark Reil said the committee could begin meeting as early as July 14.