MARION —Two professionals came before the Board of Selectmen Friday, March 29 for a public interview for the superintendent of public works position. Ed Buckley, who worked for multiple engineering firms and David Willett, the former director of public works in Northglen, Colorado were finalists for the job.

After the interviews, the Board of Selectmen made their decision to offer the job of superintendent of public works to Willett, subject to contact negotiations. 

Former Selectman Jonathan Henry has served as the department’s interim superintendent since Robert Zora retired in 2017.

Willett grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He later earned his master’s degree in business administration at Colorado State University. After working for a private company he became the director of public works in Northglen, Colorado for nine years before retiring in 2018. 

As director, Willett oversaw a sanitation group and wastewater and water plant. The sanitation group, he said, employed about 12 people. Willett said he and the group worked on improving the recycling process, sorting out the recycled waste contamination, when non-recyclables are mixed in with recyclables, and educating the community about recycling. Willett said they even had a television news story about how much contamination was in recycling bins and the amount of recyclables in trash.

After retiring, Willett moved to Carver where he currently resides. “I guess in general I’ve just done almost everything that this town is going through right now,” said Willet, “So I feel as though I could really lend good quality expertise to the town.”

Selectman John Waterman said he was impressed by Willett’s professional experience and felt he could be an asset. “I think he was by far the strongest candidate, I just hope we can keep someone like that for a while,” said Waterman.

Buckley watched his father work in public works for 30 years, but started out his career by planning commercial office building projects, including a Stop & Shop distribution center. In 2006, he became the Highway Manager in Plymouth. In 2014, Buckley became the Highway Superintendent in Raynham, where he worked with multiple engineering firms. 

Buckley said while he likes his current position, he couldn’t pass up on that job. “I really enjoy where I am but I saw this [as a] great opportunity.” said Buckley.

At an April 2 Board meeting, Selectmen said they had made the offer to Willett and were almost certain her would accept, if they could work out details on a contract arrangement. He had set a tentative start date for April 22.