Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the provisions of Chapter 31 of the General Laws shall not apply to the positions of Police Chief and Fire Chief in the Town of North Andover.
Section 35-5 shall not impair the civil service status of any person holding the position of Police Chief or Fire Chief on the effective date of this bylaw.
A. 
The filling of vacancies in the positions of Police Chief and Fire Chief in the Town of North Andover shall include a competitive examination process, which shall provide for an assessment center selection process. At a minimum, the assessment center selection process shall consist of the following components:
(1) 
A tactical operations exercise (incident simulation);
(2) 
An exercise to evaluate written problem-solving skills;
(3) 
Labor relations/negotiation exercise;
(4) 
Program development/budget preparation exercise; and
(5) 
Structured oral interview.
B. 
The Town Manager shall choose an individual or firm qualified by experience and knowledge to conduct the assessment center and shall also appoint the interviewing panel which shall, at a minimum, have two chiefs from the appropriate police or fire discipline to serve on the panel. The recommendations of the interviewing panel shall be forwarded to the Board of Selectmen for its consideration in making the appointment.
C. 
In the event that a Fire Chief or Police Chief chosen pursuant to this section shall retire, resign, or otherwise terminate employment as the Chief within three years after appointment, the Board of Selectmen may use the results of the assessment center selection process that was used in selecting the Chief in selecting a replacement Chief, provided all candidates who apply to replace the Chief participated in that assessment center selection process.