Qualifying begins Wednesday to fill the Post 2 seat on Flowery Branch City Council.

Candidates can turn in the needed paperwork at City Hall, 5517 Main St., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and between 8 a.m. and noon Friday. The qualifying fee is $144.

Also scheduled: advance and absentee voting, which will start Feb. 13.

The Post 2 seat became vacant after Chris Fetterman, who won re-election to the post in November, resigned in early January because of a job transfer to Florida.

The special election is set for March 6, the same day as Georgia's presidential preference primary.

City residents also will vote to fill the Post 3 seat on that day. That seat fell open when Kris Yardley resigned to pursue what would be an unsuccessful bid for the state House District 25 seat in South Hall.

The candidates have been set in that race. They are: Jason Covert, Fred Richards and Pat Zalewski.
Fetterman, in his resignation letter, said he hopes "other people will run for the seat ... from other areas within the city."

He and the remaining council members - Tara Richards, Joe Anglin, Damon Gibbs and Mayor Mike Miller - live in Sterling on the Lake, a 1,000-acre subdivision off Spout Springs and Capitola Farm roads.

"Not to take away their ability to govern or the fact they do represent the whole city, but equal representation from all areas of the city is needed," Fetterman said.

The vacancies have created a quorum issue for the council, along with Richards' training for an upcoming six-month deployment to Afghanistan. She is a captain is the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

To conduct a meeting, the city charter requires at least three council members and the mayor or mayor pro tem.
The council rescheduled last week's meeting to Friday from Thursday and is having to tweak February's meeting schedule.

It now is set to hold its first meeting of the month on Feb. 16 and the second meeting on Feb. 20. Normally, the council meets the first and third Thursdays of the month.