BIDDEFORD — Biddeford Fire Chief Joseph Warren retired in March. Now, the city is considering a few options for replacing him.

“With the retirement of Chief Warren, it’s critical that we do something at this point and juncture in time,” Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant said at a recent joint meeting of the City Council, the Police Commission and the Fire Commission.

Casavant said the city must decide between “maintaining the status quo” and appointing a new fire chief in Biddeford, appointing a chief to oversee both the Biddeford and Saco fire departments, or hiring a public safety director to oversee either Biddeford’s or both cities’ police, fire and code enforcement departments.

“There are all these different possibilities on the table, and there could be hybrids,” said Casavant.

At the meeting, Mike Pardue, a Kennebunk businessman who served as the public safety director in Westbrook for 3 1/2 years, spoke about the pros and cons of hiring a public safety director.

Not only does the system save municipalities money, said Pardue, but it also builds a sense of camaraderie between police officers and firefighters that might not exist in a traditional system.

“We functioned together as a team,” Pardue said of the departments he commanded, which included Westbrook’s communications department as well as its police and fire departments. “We spoke as a single voice and we spoke in unison, and that was really very important.”

Pardue said personally, one of the challenges of being a public safety director was maintaining impartiality.

“I became very cognizant immediately that I needed to make sure there was a spirit of neutrality and there were no leanings (toward one department or the other),” he said. “It’s that balancing act.”

Pardue said maintaining impartiality becomes even more of a concern when a public safety director has a background in one field versus the other. He, for example, had a background in law enforcement and admits he knew little about firefighting.

In an email last week, Casavant said the council and police and fire commissions will meet again to decide if they want to pursue hiring a public safety director.

“If not, then we will discuss the idea of a common chief with Saco, and if that is something that we want to pursue, then we will meet with Saco,” he said. “We are a ways off from that.”

Deputy Chief Scott Gagne is currently serving as the Biddeford Fire Department’s interim fire chief.

Last week the Saco City Council appointed councilors Kevin Roche and David Precourt to an ad-hoc committee regarding the consolidation of the two cities’ fire departments.

“I’m a firm supporter of mutual aid,” said Councilor Leslie Smith; however, he said he thought Saco taxpayers would prefer a chief in the city. Smith said Saco has shared positions in the past with other communities and he felt the city did not get its money’s worth.

Saco Mayor Don Pilon said it would be irresponsible not to at least have few meetings to “get the temperature” for the proposal.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or averzoni@journaltribune.com. Staff writer Liz Gotthelf contributed to this report.