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LEWISVILLE — For the Lewisville Town Council, it was a time of transition with three newcomers receiving the oath of office along with three incumbents in its most recent meeting.

Meanwhile, Mike Horn, who has served the town for 26 years — including the last 10 as mayor — returns to his familiar spot following another every odd year November election. 

Horn will direct a council made up of returnees Melissa Hunt, Ken Sadler and Jane Welch, who were the top three vote-getters in the Nov. 7 municipal election, and were joined by Monte Long, Julia Puckett and Ivan Huffman — all political newcomers.

Before seating the new council, Horn bid farewell to departing council members Jeanne Marie Foster, Fred Franklin and David Smitherman, who all didn’t seek re-election.

“The last two years have just been amazing what we’ve accomplished,” Horn said. “We don’t do it by ourselves. We do it as a group, and we do it as a team. And as Fred would say, ‘We pull the wagon together.’ And that’s what we’ve done.”

Following the seating of the new council, next on the agenda was a business item to elect the mayor pro tem.

“Traditionally, the individual that receives the most votes in our general election is nominated to hold this position for the next two years,” Horn said.

Sadler then proceeded to follow “our practice for years” in nominating Hunt, the top vote-getter, as the town’s next mayor pro tem. The motion was approved unanimously.

Horn concluded the meeting by saying: “To our returning council members, my thanks for your continued commitment to public service in the service of our town. To our newest council members, over the next two years you will make what will seem to be a lot of small decisions, but taken in their entirety they will preserve our town’s heritage and shape our future. Every one of them is important. I’m confident you will serve us well.”

In other appointments from last Thursday night’s meeting, the council appointed:

• Horn as the primary Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Urban Planning Area Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) representative with Long as the alternate.
• Hunt as the primary Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PRTC) Delegate with Puckett as the alternate.
• Welch as the Special Projects Review Committee chair along with Huffman and Puckett as members.
• Horn, Sadler and Long as members of the Administrative Committee.

In other business from last Thursday night’s meeting, the council approved making a $2,000 contribution to the Lewisville Community Assistance Program.

The Lewisville Special Projects Review Committee met two times to discuss the request and voted unanimously 3-0 to contribute $2,000 to the LCAP to aid stocking the shelves at the food pantry.

In its application, the LACP had provided a funding request to the town of $5,000, stating additional funds were needed to meet the growing needs of the food pantry to help keep the pantry stocked with dry nonperishables as well as fresh food options.

The council also announced the board’s annual retreat would be Feb. 16-17 at the Mary Alice Warren Community Center.

And while approving the meeting schedule for 2024, the council voted to have meetings for all town boards and committees, including town council, start at 6 p.m. to provide consistency and avoid confusion over starting times.