Markland retiring as Gilford police chief

GILFORD — Selectmen last night accepted, with deep regret, the resignation of Police Chief John Markland, who will be leaving the post he has held for six years at the end of the month.

Markland was not present at the meeting and selectmen said that they will wait until their next meeting on September 28 before making any decision on his successor.

"He'll still be here when the next meeting is held. We'll wait until then before deciding anything,'' John O'Brien, chair of the board of selectmen, said after the meeting.

Markland has served as police chief since July of 2005, when he succeeded Evans Juris, and had served as acting chief from December of 2004 until he was named chief. Juris had stepped up to take the role of town administrator, at first a temporary assignment.

Markland got his start in law enforcement as a dispatcher with the Newport Police Department in 1985 and became a part-time and then a full-time officer with Newport in 1986, where he was also the department's K-9 handler.

After coming to Gilford in 1988 he worked his way up the ranks, serving as a patrol officer, Youth Services officer, DARE officer and was promoted to corporal, sergeant and then lieutenant before being named deputy chief.

Selectmen also announced that they were standing by their decision to eliminate a land use technician position from the Department of Planning and Land Use, a decision which drew fire from members of town's Conservation Commission and Zoning Board at a board meeting last month.

"We're going to keep that decision in place and continue to look for other potential savings," O'Brien announced. In the audience was Stephanie Verdile Philibotte, whose position was cut, as well as members from both the ZBA and Conservation Commission.

Selectmen said that they are still looking for $300,000 in cuts as they prepare next year's budget.

In other business the board approved the purchase of a refurbished photocopier from Conway Office Solutions, which, along with upgrades, will cost $5,173, less than half the price of a new copier.

John Ayre, director of Planning and Land Use, said that the old 2001 copier used by his department is frequently out of service and that the service plan for the refurbished copier is roughly half the cost of that budgeted for the old one.

The board also named Department of Public Works Director Sheldon Morgan as the town's public health officer and David Andrade of the Planning and Land Use Department as deputy public health officer, and promoted Curt Young to highway superintendent.

O'Brien asked Ayre to take a look at what he said were sign regulation violations, including one at the Paugus Bay Plaza where a large truck is parked near the road with a large sign calling attention to karoake nights at the Cacklin' Crow Restaurant,

Ayre said his department would check out that sign and also look at others which might be deemed in violation of sign regulations.