Marblehead names engineering and conservation administrator

MARBLEHEAD – The town will be handling its engineering office a little differently this year.Following the retirement of Town Engineer Doug Saal in June, Town Administrator Tony Sasso named Lynn resident Willy Lanphear as Engineering and Conservation Administrator, at an annual salary of $67,000.A Danvers native, Lanphear was a student in the University of New Hampshire forestry program in 1973 when he chose the small Lynn surveying firm of Raymond Pressey Inc. to fulfill a 10-week, hands-on experience program requirement.He found the eight-person company to be a good opportunity and worked his way up, becoming a licensed land surveyor in 1981. He became a partner in the firm and then president, taking the reins completely after Pressey died in 1995.Sept. 11 and the events that followed caused a slowdown in the surveying business and Lanphear downsized the company, running the business from his home with the aid of technological improvements.Most of his work was in Marblehead and Swampscott and news of Saal’s retirement made him think about applying for the job."I knew the town and the employees very well," he said Wednesday. I think it’s a good fit."