Fire Chief seeking feedback on what residents want out of their department

Lebanon Fire and EMS Chief Steven Merrill (Courtesy photo)

LEBANON - The town's fire chief is seeking feedback on how his department has been doing since he took over the reins in February.

Steven Merrill, who is also a paramedic, shepherded the department through the budget season upon taking office and led the fight to replace an aging ambulance, which town voters overwhelmingly backed at the polls in June.

He also moved the department headquarter to its Carl Broggi Highway building in South Lebanon about a half mile from the East Rochester, N.H., line due to structural issues at the Upper Cross Road stationhouse.

In a late July post on the department's Facebook page, Merrill urged residents to provide their opinions on how the department is doing and in what direction they should move.

"The residents are the ones who fund the department through the budget and we feel that we should be accountable to the residents and the Select Board," Merrill said in the post.

He asked residents to give their feedback on three specific subjects as follows.

1) How is the Department doing from your point of view?
2) What would you like to see the Department doing?
3) Which direction should the Department be going in?
He also said he welcomed any public forum in which residents and department members could sit down and do some brainstorming on the services they provide.

"Please let us know what you think as we want to serve you in the best possible way we can," Merrill said.

Messages can be left on the department's Facebook page or residents can email Merrill directly at S.Merrill@lebanonfireems.org.