It was all about filling vacancies when the Kilbuck Township Supervisors held a special meeting Tuesday.

With new supervisor Tom Tomaro participating by phone from Greensboro, NC, the board voted to fill a vacant supervisor's seat, as well as the position of tax collector for the township.

Chairman John Fader said that two "very qualified" people had applied for the supervisor's position left vacant when Susan Merckner resigned in December. Both had agreed to accept other positions in township government if not appointed supervisor, Fader said.

Named to the seat was Jean Sebastien Valois of Newgate Road. A native of Canada, Fader said he has lived in kilbuck for six years. He is a scientist with the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie mellon University, and previously has worked with both NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, participating in both shuttle and international space station projects.

The other candidate was Andrew Hunt of The Knob.

Former supervisor Russ Hardiman was appointed tax collector, but pretty much in name only.

Because no one was elected tax collector in the November election, it fell to the supervisors to fill the position. Solicitor Charles Means said that although state law requires that an individual, as opposed to a company, be named to collect property taxes, the law also allows townships to appoint a deputy tax collector, which can be a company.

The supervisors voted to deputize Central Tax Bureau, which Means said was among the companies who submitted "very attractive" proposals to perform the collection.

Township secretary Harry Dilmore said that Central Tax not only submitted the lowest cost for collection, but already collects other Kilbuck taxes, allowing for a "seamless transition."

The company will be able to collect taxes at a lower cost than an elected tax collector, resulting in a "good savings for Kilbuck residents," Dilmore said.