Fire district to form a search committee

Commissioners of the new special Corinth-Shiloh tax district discussed their search for a full-time fire chief but took no action on who exactly will serve on the search committee. Even though there’s consensus that of the five-member district commission, two of its members will serve.  Not settled is whether Kevin Christenbury, chief of the current fire station should be on the committee.  According to commissioner Misty Morris, Christenbury should not play a part in hiring a full-time chief to avoid a potential conflict of interest.  Morris said there is a perception among some Corinth-Shiloh residents of a potential scenario in which whoever is hired will stay only a couple of years, after which Christenbury retires from his full-time fire department position with Clemson University and then becomes Corinth-Shiloh’s full-time paid chief.  Her comments were echoed by a second commissioner, Monty Marcengill.  However, Morris insists the perception is erroneous as Christenbury has made clear that his intentions are to retire to take advantage of a point in his life when more time with family is paramount.  Christenbury has said his plan is to remain associated with the Corinth-Shiloh station only during the transition period between a mostly-volunteer service to a 24/7, mostly paid station.