By Evan Brandt, ebrandt@pottsmerc.com

UPPER POTTSGROVE — Nine months after former township Police Chief Brian Ross resigned to take a position in Berks County, the Board of Commissioners has hired a replacement.

By unanimous vote, the board hired William Moffett, a former police chief in Cherry Hill, N.J., and more recently in Upper Moreland, Montgomery County, a position from which he recently retired, said Elwood Taylor, chairman of the township's Board of Commissioners.

Moffett will begin his contract, which expires on Dec. 31, 2009, on Nov. 10, said Taylor. His salary will be $80,000 and he will be allowed to use the township car he is provided, Taylor said.

So long as Moffett, who now lives in Hatboro, continues to live beyond a 15-mile radius of Upper Pottsgrove, he will have to pay his own fuel costs.

The agreement, which is "similar to the one we had with our previous police chief," also encourages Moffett to move to within 15 miles of the township, Taylor said at Monday's board meeting where the vote occurred.

The board also agreed to a "side letter," that indicated Moffett "may need some extra time to take care of some personal matters in the next month and a half," said Taylor.

He said Moffett had completed and passed all the psychological and physical tests required of the position.

For the first time in the history of the township police department, Moffett will be an "at-will employee" and not serve within the bounds of civil service protection, Taylor confirmed.

"In the past we may have done it, but times have changed and the chief is more of an administrator now, similar to (Township Manager) Jack (Layne's) position," Taylor said.

"Previously, when we had officers working their way up through the ranks and becoming chief, dropping civil service may have been a problem, but that's not the case here," Taylor said.

Taylor said that Moffett had applied earlier and circumstances made it possible to more recently reactivate his application. "He was the one we offered the job to the first time around," said Taylor.

In August, Layne reported that the township had initially received as many as 30 to 40 applications for the position. More recently, the list was narrowed to four and Taylor said Moffett scored "one of the highest rates" on a "battery of tests."

Commissioner Peter Dolan thanked Taylor, Layne and Commissioners Russ Noll and Renee Spaide for their help in interviewing the candidates.

Layne said the township also received help and advice from Ross, who left to take a job in Spring Township. Ross was with the township for two years.

In the nine months since Ross left, the department has been run by two "officers in charge."