New Derry Town-Zoning Admin hails from rural New York

The Londonderry Select Board has hired Robert Nied of Richmondville, N.Y., as its new Town Administrator and Zoning Administrator, for the first time combining the two positions under one person.

Nied (pronounced need) will be replacing Stephanie Thompson who served as Londonderry’s Town Administrator from 2015 until her recent resignation to accept a new job. The Zoning Administrator position has been vacant on and off for about two years.

Nied and his wife Renee will be moving to Chester, where they are purchasing a home. He has an extensive background in community preservation and, particularly, rural preservation, having co-founded and until recently lead the Center for Sustainable Rural Communities. Of such communities, Nied said in a recent interview, “People like them to be rural, but they need to find economies that work.” He said the organization tackled land use and energy policy among many other issues.

Nied said he has moved out of that position and is in the process of turning over his company, Robert Nied Consultancy Group, to others. That company, according to Nied, “provides guidance to Fortune 100 clients and government agencies” from the United States and in the European Union “on issues related to cyber-security, privacy, risk management, project management and regulatory compliance. ”

Citing a “need to downsize,” Nied said he and his wife have been looking to move to southern Vermont for two years. For 20 years, they have lived on 30 acres in upstate New York, where they also grow their own food. “Our whole family is artsy,” he added, explaining that his wife is an arts administrator and administers grants for the State of New York.

He is a musician and a sculptor and their son Owen, now a college student in Amherst, Mass., is a guitarist.

Nied said that he and his wife also enjoy hiking while he also bikes and she practices yoga.

According to a press release from the Town of Londonderry, Nied will be moving into his position during October with the aid of the Select Board and Thompson, establishing a regular schedule in early November.

He was hired to work an average of 35 hours a week at $25 per hour. A health benefit package has yet to be determined.