New Inver Grove Heights Commissioners Appointed

The Inver Grove Heights City Council appointed a handful of new commissioners during a quick and casual voting process Monday night at . 

The Parks & Recreation Commission showed three vacant spots for which six candidates expressed interest. After three rounds of voting, the City Council appointed Joseph Boehmer, Mary Hapka and Dennis Schueller. 

The appointment is Hapka's first, while Boehmer and Schueller have served previous terms. All new commissioners will serve a three-year term.

The Planning Commission showed four vacancies, for which five candidates emerged. Candidates Harold Gooch and Annette Maggi were appointed to three-year positions after receiving five votes apiece on the first ballot. 

Paul Hark was reappointed to a three-year term after the second ballot, while current Planning Commission Chair Thomas Bartholomew was reappointed but given a two-year term. 

Bartholomew's truncated term is due to last week's premature departure of longtime commissioner Mike Schaeffer. Bartholomew will essentially fill Schaeffer's final two years.  

Environmental commissioners Dustin Bower, Robert Heidenreich and Ted Trenzeluk—all of whose terms expire in 2012—were reappointed to new three-year terms without votes.  

Similarly, two Convention & Visitors Bureau commissioners were reappointed to three-year terms after no other interest was expressed. 

In its final vote, the Council appointed first-time candidate Kevin Vernon Harris to the Aircraft Noise Abatement Commission.