Amherst tabs director of development

AMHERST – After working as the town’s interim zoning administrator for two years, Charlie Tiedemann has been chosen as the new director of planning and development services.

Tiedemann beat out three other top candidates from a pool of 16 applicants.

The planning and zoning office has been in reorganization mode for almost two years while the Board of Selectmen decided what it wanted the department to be, said Town Administrator Carl Weber.

Tiedemann began his new job Tuesday. The primary difference between the old position and the new one is that he is now a department head with greater budget and personnel responsibilities.

He will also be dealing with “bigger picture issues” that go beyond the technical details of zoning, Weber said.

Weber called the selection process grueling for the top four applicants. Each underwent two panel interviews in the same day.

The technical review panel was made up of members of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Historic District Commission, and outside professionals. The second panel consisted of selectmen and Weber.

Weber has used this process before to select department heads and said it almost always allows a clear winner to naturally emerge.

This time around, that person was Tiedemann.

Tiedemann has more than 40 years of experience in land planning and surveying. For 30 years, he ran a surveying business in town and retired around the same time the town needed an interim zoning administrator. He has also served on the Planning Board.

Lynn Tryba can be reached at 594-6402 or trybal@telegraph-nh.com.