HANCEVILLE — The Hanceville City Council didn’t drag out the search for a new city council member to replace a recently-departed member following her relocation to Limestone County.

At its regular meeting Thursday, the council appointed longtime Hanceville resident and onetime council member Jimmie Nuss to finish out the two-year remainder of outgoing council member Sharon Porter’s term. Nominated by Mayor Kenneth Nail, Nuss was unanimously appointed to fill Porter’s vacant seat through the end of her unfinished term.

Nuss said he may be rusty on the finer points of municipal procedure, but is happy for the opportunity to work with Nail and the city’s other four council members.

“I’m just proud of Hanceville. I’m proud of this council. And it’s an honor to be able to serve. “I won’t be sitting up there to pose any trouble. Just pray for me, because I’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” he told the council as he accepted Nail’s nomination.

Following his appointment, Nuss was immediately sworn in and spent the rest of the meeting on the council dais alongside his elected colleagues.

Nail said Nuss will be an asset to city government, describing him as a person who’ll follow his conscience — even it means principled disagreement, at times.

“I mean this from my heart: Jimmie Nuss is a man of his own,” said Nail. “He’s a guy who, if he thinks the mayor’s wrong, he’ll say so. He’s not a rubber-stamp for anyone. And I know that Jimmie loves this town, and he’ll be a great asset.”

Nuss will serve in his appointed position through the end of Porter’s elected term, which expires in November of 2020.

Porter announced she would be relocating to the Athens area and would step down from her Hanceville Council position in late June, after her husband, former Hanceville band director Steven Porter, accepted a position as band director at Athens High School.