Town Manager Chris Ketchen told the board about the hire on Wednesday.

LENOX, Mass. — The town has a new planner.

 

After a search yielding some 20 applicants, a hiring committee offered Gwen Miller, a planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, the job.

 

The town has been operating without a town planner since April.

 

"Her first and top priority is to provide support to land use staff," said Town Manager Chris Ketchen. I'm very excited to have Gwen on board."

 

After helping the staff and committees that have filled in in the absence of a planner, Miller will be asked to help create a "one-stop shop" for residents and business permitting. She starts on Dec. 1.

 

"Gwen, I think, is going to do very well in that position," Selectman Ken Fowler said. "I'm looking forward to looking to her. I like the one-stop, streamlined process for permitting."

 

Ketchen said Miller was chosen after the 20 or applicants were narrowed down to just five candidates to interview. 

 

At a recent Berkshire Regional Planning Commission meeting, Executive Director Nathaniel Karns said she will be missed. But, since she knows all of the resources at BRPC, Karns is expecting to still see her around the office.

 

"I am thrilled for her. I think it is a great opportunity in Lenox," Karns said, but knowing all of the resources at BRPC, "She is going to call on us."

 

At BRPC, Miller had experiences in a number of different projects. Most recently she was active in a study looking at the locations of passenger rail stations. She also worked with North Adams' master planning project; Sustainable Berkshires; bikeway planning in North Adams; the Mohawk Trail preservation project; and she was a back up person in running the organization's website.

 

"She has been willing to jump in on many different projects when we needed help," said BRPC Planner Tom Matuszko. "She really has gotten a broad brush of activities." 

 

Miller is the second BRPC staffer to leave the organization for jobs with local municipalities. Last year, the city of North Adams hired former BRPC staffer Mackenzie Greer.

 

"We didn't realize we were the farm team," Karns joked.