After losing much of its staff to sudden resignations earlier this year, Milesburg Borough will now need to fill two council seats, with the newly-appointed council president walking out of Monday night’s meeting.

Samantha Walker, who was elected in November and appointed council president last month, abruptly resigned after a discussion about filling an open council seat turned heated. Council member Sandy Dieterle submitted her resignation on Feb. 22.

Walker told the CDT on Tuesday that her resignation was in response to the other three council members present (two members were absent) attempting to fill the vacant seat after only advertising it for three business days.

“I resigned, by strategy, as a last-ditch effort to help the residents of the borough by stopping the immediate filling of the vacant seat by just the three council members present,” Walker said, “and in hopes to achieve the best and most fair outcome possible for the residents. Hopefully the court system, by borough code.”

Milesburg has been attempting to build back its staff following the January resignation of former borough manager Paula Hall and four other borough employees. Hall, who is still the manager of the Milesburg Water Authority, cited poor treatment and social media accusations as reasons for leaving. The staff shakeups have affected borough operations and an interim manager is now in place.

At Monday’s meeting, council members initially discussed the hiring structure for how they wanted to bring new employees into the borough. Only four of the six remaining council members were present at the meeting, with council members Pete DeLosa and Greg Ritter absent.

The discussion of the hiring structure was disrupted when council member Fred Kellerman questioned if Walker was doing her job properly as council president. He, along with Ethel Kellerman and Plummer Davidson, then jumped ahead in the agenda and attempted to address the appointment of a new council member to replace Dieterle.

The council voted 3-1 to start the process of appointing a new member, with the “no” vote coming from Walker. There were three applicants for the open position in attendance at the meeting.

Pennsylvania law does not require boards or councils to take public input in the process of filling vacancies, nor does it direct them to screen or ultimately choose interested candidates in a certain way.

“I felt as if it would be best for the residents of Milesburg to take the full amount of time available to inform themselves on the full situation here,” Walker said during the meeting.

Shortly after, Walker had a brief aside with solicitor Tracey Benson. She then thanked the public for electing her into office and announced her resignation.

After Walker left the meeting, the remaining council members no longer had a quorum required to conduct business and the meeting was adjourned.

But the remaining council members immediately opened up another meeting session for reorganization purposes and voted Fred Kellerman to be council president, with Plummer Davidson as vice president.

This reorganization, however, may not be valid as the public was not given a 24-hour notice of the meeting, meaning that it is a potential violation of the Sunshine Act.

In accordance with state laws, the borough has until April 19 to fill the council position formerly held by Dieterle, and 45 days after Walker’s resignation acceptance to fill that seat. State code allows for the municipality’s vacancy board or the county’s court of common pleas to break a draw in the event that votes are tied.

Walker’s resignation acceptance and the appointment of the next board member could be done at the borough’s next special meeting, scheduled for March 27 at 6:30 p.m.