Conservation Officer Mark Sheehan will remain on the job.

During a presentation to the Haverhill Exchange Club Thursday afternoon, June 18, Mayor James Fiorentini confirmed that Sheehan, the city's only conservation officer, will work for both the police and water/wastewater departments. Each will pay a portion of his salary.

Because the water department is self-funded, meaning it raises money to pay all its expenses through fees and grants, the move takes at least half of Sheehan's salary out of the city budget.

The remainder will be paid by the police department, Fiorentini said. When asked where the police department would find the money to pay Sheehan, the mayor replied, "Be careful where you park."

Fiorentini last week announced that Sheehan's would be one of eight Police Department positions to be eliminated to help close a $6.4 million budget gap for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. At the time, city councilors said they opposed any move to do away with Sheehan's job.

City Councilor James Donahue proposed the idea of paying at least a portion of Sheehan's salary using a grant given to the Water Department to study the feasibility of using the Merrimack River as a secondary drinking water source.

Fiorentini agreed to consider the idea and during Wednesday's budget hearing, he and the council agreed that Sheehan's job could fall partly under the water department's mission, and therefore its budget.

"This is a good day for Haverhill. We will have continued protection of our national resources," Donahue said.

Sheehan will continue to have policing duties — he is the only conservation officer in the state who is trained and licensed to carry a handgun.