After Leaving Merrimack, Morrissette Lands in Westford, Mass.

Anyone watching on television or there in person for Planning Board meetings over the past few weeks may have noticed a newcomer.

In case you didn’t know, that’s recently appointed Town Planner Jeff Morrissette. And while he’s a newcomer to Westford, he’s certainly no newcomer to the world of zoning and planning.

Morrissette arrived from three and a half years as Assistant Town Planner just up Route 3 in Merrimack, NH; which in itself was followed by 11 years of consulting work in Chelmsford and then Marlborough.

Although Westford is Morrissette’s first public sector job in Massachusetts, given his background on both sides of the border, he’s felt comfortable stepping in for Chris Kluchman, who in turn was promoted after Angus Jennings left as Director of Land Use Management earlier this year.

“There are a lot of specifics that differ, but I have a lot of experience in Massachusetts. The Assistant Planner job was really my first break from Massachusetts,” said Morrisette. “There’s a lot in common between the two states.”

However, Morrissette feels that perhaps the key thing that prepared him for his current role was that private sector work earlier on.

“I think public and private sector planning work can be very different. They’re two sides of the same coin, but sometimes it’s hard to see the other side of that coin. So it was very helpful to see both sides of things,” he said. “It’s good to know what’s going through everyone’s minds throughout the process, I know that was invaluable in Merrimack, especially during proposed bylaw changes.”

So far, he reports that things have been going well, as he looks forward to helping provide information for town officials on a variety of the town’s upcoming planning issues, ranging from the proposed sign bylaw, to 40B issue to addressing the topic of medical marijuana bylaws in a local context.

“Everyone seems very informed and saavy, which is great,” he said. “I am looking forward to a lot of the discussions.”