New leader takes the helm

Verne Horton will serve as Fairport Harbor Village Council president in 2021

Doug Harrison didn’t make a long speech, but he added a touch of formality in announcing who would succeed him as Fairport Harbor Village Council president.

“I would like to make a motion to pass the esteemed torch of council president pro-tem to Mr. Horton,” Harrison said, during council’s Jan. 5 organizational meeting. The gathering took place remotely by video conference.

Harrison was referring to Councilman Verne Horton, who then was elected by his fellow legislators to serve as the panel’s 2021 president.

“I will do my best to fill Mr. Harrison’s shoes,” Horton said.

Horton was re-elected by village voters in 2017 to his fourth four-year term on council. He also formerly served as Fairport Harbor Village administrator.

Meanwhile, Mayor Timothy Manross said membership on all council committees would remain the same for 2021. The process was a bit simpler than in 2020, when newly elected Councilwoman Christine Bacnik was added to the mix of council committees.

The organizational meeting featured a light agenda, with council passing just two resolutions. The panel approved the appointments of Darrien Hillman as a firefighter trainee and Owen Donelan as firefighter III for the village Fire Department.

Council’s first regular meeting of 2021 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 19. Plans call for council to continue conducting its meetings remotely by video conference, at least for the first two months of the year.

Manross, during council’s Dec. 15 meeting, urged that the remote format be retained for upcoming meetings. One factor behind his recommendation was the uncertainty of another COVID-19 surge that some health experts said could follow the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The mayor also noted that Fairport Harbor’s inperson council meetings are typically attended by many elderly residents, who already are at higher risk for COVID-19 because of their advanced ages.

In addition, Manross said that based on the lingering threat of COVID-19, bringing the village treasurer, administrator, and police and fire chiefs into the same room for an in-person meeting “just doesn’t make a lot of sense at this point.”

For January and February, Village Council also will stick to holding just one regular meeting a month — at 6:30 on the third Tuesday — rather than reverting to meeting twice monthly, as the group used to do traditionally through most of the year.

Any resident wishing to attend a virtual council meeting can do so on the day of the event by going to fairportharbor.org and clicking on the Public Access Live Stream — Meetings link.