Lakeville considers rehiring previous Town Planner as consultant

Ethan Hunt

Apr 14, 2025

Cathy Murray and Michele MacEachern address the Select Board on the topic of rehiring Nancy Durfee. Photo by Ethan Hunt

LAKEVILLE — The Select Board discussed rehiring former Town Planner Nancy Durfee as an interim-consultant to the Planning Board.

In January 2025 the town hired Durfee to fill the role of Town Planner. However, on March 24, she left the Lakeville post to take the same job in Freetown. Prior to both positions, Durfee had been Town Planner in Rochester since 2021.

The position has been vacant in Lakeville since Durfee departed.

At the Monday, April 14 meeting Planning Board Chair Michele MacEachern said “this is something the planning board is definitely in need of.”

“Our experience with Nancy Durfee was changing for the town. It’s devastating that we’ve lost her,” MacEachern said.

Select Board members raised concerns that Durfee would have to be paid as a consultant, which would be significantly more expensive than if she was a regular town employee.

Additionally, board member Brian Day noted that the town is currently trying to hire for at least two other positions and has four others that may soon be vacant. With a tight budget for next year, Day said “we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel right now and I’m not comfortable saying lets go ahead and do this.”

Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth said the town has received a handful of applications for the Town Planner position but has not started interviewing.

“I understand the financial constraints but I don’t think this is something to put on the backburner. Not having somebody in this role is really creating that whole problem again where we are reactive as opposed to proactive,” MacEachern said.

Sukeforth also highlighted that Durfee currently has another fulltime job. MacEachern explained that in preliminary discussions, Durfee said she could be available for specific projects.

Select Board members tabled the discussion with plans to assess the current job listing for Town Planner and address the matter of interim-consultant at the next meeting.

MacEachern emphasized that the position needs to be filled in some way as soon as possible, “especially going into spring and summer development season.”