The planning board is back at full capacity.

At a virtual Select Board meeting on Sept. 21, the two boards jointly voted to appoint Christopher O’Neil to the position.

The vacancy comes following the departure of longtime Planning Board member John Sousa, who resigned from his position in August.

O’Neil currently helps run an insurance firm in New Bedford and has served on various boards including the Chamber of Commerce, Workforce Investment Board, and the Greater New Bedford Insurance Agents Association. 

He noted that since applying for the opening, he has been familiarizing himself with the town’s bylaws.

“I think I’ve discovered the cure for insomnia,” O’Neil said. “They’re real page turners.”

O’Neil will serve until the town election in April 2021. The winner of that election will fill out the remainder of Sousa’s term, which is set to expire in 2023.