With Chapel Hill Town Council member Rachel Schaevitz announcing she will be stepping down from her position to move to New Zealand, a council position will soon have an unexpected vacancy. With elections having passed in November, the town will use another method to fill the seat.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger expressed mixed feelings after hearing the announcement, saying she is happy for her family to have the experience but sad to lose her from the council.

“She has been this wonderful bundle of creative and positive energy and very succinct in coming out with comments,” said Hemminger to 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck. “We’re figuring out the day in February she’ll be leaving and then we have an ordinance about a town process. I know people have been asking.”

With Schaevitz’s last day as a council member looming on the horizon, Hemminger has been busy assessing the process to find a replacement.

“It’s been defined that if a person does not announce they are leaving before a filing period ends then it’s a process of the council selecting the next person from a process of having applications,” Hemminger said. “We will be discussing this at a retreat and then coming back out with what that will involve.”

Applications for the open position will be announced after discussion at the town council retreat. Hemminger said that while she is sad to see Schaevitz go she is happy to see such high interest already from the community.

The town council retreat is scheduled the weekend of January 31.

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.