By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Applause rang as Mayor Earl Niven recommended Dale Neuendorf for the vacant city council seat.

The city council members voted unanimously March 29 to accept the recommendation, welcoming Neuendorf to the vacant seat.

“You will have to vacate certain positions with the city,” Niven told Neuendorf, “and next Tuesday night be sworn in as a councilman.”

Neuendorf currently holds a position on the city’s planning committee, but will vacate the position in order to sit on the city council.

Out of the eight applicants, Neuendorf stood out above the rest, Niven said.

“He’s shown that he loves Chelsea and is a servant,” Niven said of Neuendorf, who has been the director of the Citizen Observer Patrol in Chelsea for the past four years. “We were looking for a servant who has Chelsea at heart. We’re always looking to make Chelsea a better place.”

As Neuendorf’s departure from the city planning committee will leave an open spot, Niven said he might make an appointment from one of the other city council candidates.

“I like to be involved in any community service, and had no idea the seat would be vacant, but I see it as another way to serve Chelsea,” Neuendorf said. “I want to help Chelsea to continue to move forward in a positive direction, but with controlled growth.

“It’s a family-oriented community, and I want to continue to grow those family values with citizens in mind,” he added. “The focus is on family.”

In other actions from the meeting the council:

-Adopted a resolution to grant a retail liquor license to Chelsea Café, 1688 Highway 280.

-Adopted resolutions to annex parcels of land for the following families: Dale and Angela Franklin, Jeff and Tiffany Gann, Donald and Betty Marrs, Joel and Sarah Stinson and Mary Nichols.