Some of the mystery surrounding Shawn Ripley’s departure from the Kentville Fire Chief’s role has been resolved.
Ripley will be taking on the same job in Yarmouth.
According to an Aug. 14 press release from Mayor Phil Mooney, Ripley will head up the town’s fire service as of Sept. 10.
The Kentville department announced Aug. 7 Ripley was no longer with the service and the terms of his leaving were confidential.
He was hired as Kentville’s first full-time, paid chief in May 2010. Before then he served as volunteer chief for 14 years and had been a member of the department for more than 30 years. The 50-year-old made between $60,000 and $70,000 as chief in Kentville.
Ripley issued a statement later in the day extending his thanks to the Kentville community for their “kind words of support over the past week.
“It has truly been an honour to serve the residents of the Town of Kentville and the Municipality of Kings,” he added. “It’s been a very rewarding experience.”
In his statement Ripley cited accomplishments of his tenure, including the adoption of the Joint Fire Service Agreement between the department, town and county in 2005.
His only regret, the release said, was that the 2010 Walsh Report on the department’s governance was not adopted by the board of directors. It “would have gone a long way towards resolving some long standing internal management issues of the department and help things run smoother.”
