Coaldale Council has filled a vacancy left with the death of councilman Harry Hontz Jr.

The council voted 4-0 Tuesday night to appoint Anne Girard to serve out Hontz's term, which ends in December.Hontz died on March 10 at the age of 58.Girard, who was not at the meeting, was chosen from three candidates who submitted letters of intent. She is a former council member.Residents Skip Miller and Ted Bortnick also submitted letters of recommendation.If Girard wants to stay on council past the end of the year, she will have to run for one of the three seats that are available this election cycle.Girard has already secured a place on the ballot for the spring primary election.A 30-year Coaldale resident, she is active with Boy Scouts, among other local organizations.Snow responseCouncil members also reported on their response to the recent snowstorm Stella, which dropped more than a foot of snow in some areas.Not all figures were available yet, but Councilwoman Claire Remington said she was confident that the storm would not affect the borough's general fund too much. She said that the borough recently received a $10,000 reimbursement through Schuylkill County for the money they spent during 2016's winter storm Jonas, which should cover this year's response.Remington said that there was also an incident where a plow truck struck a parked car.She said council is handling the incident.However, Remington also suggested that the vehicle had been struck by another, private plow beforehand.She suggested that the borough keep a closer eye on plow trucks using borough streets.