VALLEY – The City of Valley is acting fast to fill a vacancy on the city council. The vacant seat was created by Paul Story’s resignation to become Chambers County probate judge. He was elected to the position in November and resigned from his council seat earlier this month, just prior to being sworn in as probate judge on Jan. 13.

At Monday’s council meeting, the seat was declared vacant, and Mayor Leonard Riley announced that applications to fill the seat will be taken through 5 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 1. The applicant must be a registered voter who lives in District 1, which is on the city’s north side consisting mostly of the Shawmut mill village.

Anyone interested in applying for the position is encouraged to submit a letter of application and a resume to City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Snowden by 5 p.m. this Friday. “This Friday is the deadline,” said Mayor Leonard Riley. “We won’t accept any late applications.”

For anyone who lives in District One and would like to serve on the council the opportunity is there, but they had better act fast.

It’s the same procedure the council went through after Council Member Lana Wiggins passed away early last year.

Residents of that district may apply that first week. The next step is to appear before the council at the next meeting, which will be taking place at 6 p.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 11. Each candidate will have three minutes to talk about how they’d like to represent the district and what they’d like for the council to be doing in the coming years.

The council will then take a vote at the Monday, Feb. 25 council meeting to decide who the next District 1 representative will be.