SKOWHEGAN -- Somerset County Commissioners on Wednesday approved the emergency management director's 22-page pandemic influenza plan for any possible H1N1 emergency.

Then they accepted his letter of retirement.

Robert Higgins Sr., 63, is stepping down after six years as the director of the Somerset County Emergency Management Agency.

"I'm tired," Higgins said outside the commissioners' chambers. "Between 60 hours a week and 65 hours a week and I'm the only full-time person in the agency; I have a volunteer deputy director and two part-time employees; I am tired."

Higgins was hired to fill the vacant post in January 2003. Retired from the U.S. Army National Guard, he attended the Federal Emergency Management Institute before taking over in Somerset County.

Higgins has military experience and from 1980 to 1983 was sheriff of Washington County.

He said when he took over there were gaps in the emergency management program for Somerset County.

"It's expanded so much; the programs have expanded so much to keep up with all the homeland security issues and the vulnerabilities," he said. "Virtually when I came here in 2003 it was nonexistent, there were no plans or anything. I had to completely rebuild the agency."

Higgins, of Cornville, said his letter to county commissioners is a letter of retirement from full-time employment, not a resignation.

He said he is offering his services during the transition, and after, but on a part-time basis if the commissioners approve.

"They need an orderly transition; there's a lot at stake," he said. "If they don't take that offer, I'll probably work part-time somewhere else. I need time to rest."

He is stepping down with an annual salary of about $46,000.

County commissioners also voted to send out a request for resumes for a full-time emergency management director.

Higgins said there is about $40,000 left in a grant for a temporary planner for the department, but commissioners said they would have to accept the retirement letter before they could discuss Higgins being taken back part-time in any capacity.

"We're putting the cart before the horse," Commissioner Lynda Quinn of Skowhegan said. "We have to accept the retirement request, then figure out where to go."

Commissioners Robert Dunphy of Embden, the chairman, and Gerald York of Fairfield agreed.

Higgins' last day on the job is Dec. 31.

After that, commissioners agreed, it will be up to them to forge the future of the county's Emergency Management Agency.

The agency director plans, organizes and directs all EMA programs for the county and acts as chief county representative and coordinator with federal, state, county and local agencies that have emergency management responsibilities.

Emergencies these days can include Homeland Security breaches, floods, severe weather, hazardous materials handling and cleanup, such as a chlorine spill, truck rollover, diesel spill, or breach of a fuel tank at a manufacturing facility.

The job description that was a one-page document in 2003, when Higgins came on board, is now a four-page document.