Benjamin Averill
Benjamin Averill will begin work as Wiscasset’s new town planner on Monday, Feb. 22, according to a press release from Wiscasset Administrative Assistant Kathy Onorato.
“I’ve always been interested in the Midcoast region,” Averill said. “It’s going to be really interesting to work with Wiscasset to help it continue on the path it’s on.”
Wiscasset has been without a town planner since former Town Planner Jamel Torres resigned in December for a position with the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission.
Currently a property manager for Avesta Housing, Averill is responsible for preparing monthly and annual budgets, preparing reports for investors, and ensuring the 100 units of affordable housing he manages are compliant with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and IRS tax credit programs, Onorato said in the press release.
Averill is also currently a graduate student at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service and expects to earn his master’s degree in community planning and development in May.
“I do a lot of work with affordable housing, but I’m very interested in transportation planning,” Averill said. Continuing progress on the Route 1 corridor is a major goal for Averill when he assumes his new position, he said.
His immediate goal will be to familiarize himself with Wiscasset and to get to know the community, he said. “I want to make the correct decisions for what the town is looking for,” Averill said.
Averill has worked on research projects focused on the reuse and redevelopment of school and industrial buildings.
Averill has also worked as a writer for the Society of Architectural Historians, researching historically important structures in Maine.
Averill currently lives with his wife in Portland. However, the couple plans to move to the Midcoast region in the near future.
“I plan to stay in Wiscasset for a while,” Averill said.
