BLACKSBURG -- Two outgoing Blacksburg Town Council members were appointed to the town's planning commission Tuesday night.

Council members voted unanimously to appoint Paul Lancaster and Mary Holliman, who lost their seats in the May election, to four-year terms on the town planning commission. Lancaster has served on the council and the planning commission for the past four years.

Holliman served on the commission until 2006, when she was appointed to fill a vacant council seat. At that time, newly elected Mayor Ron Rordam asked her to resign from the commission. Having too many council members on the commission might compromise its independence, Rordam said then.

In his parting remarks at Tuesday night's council meeting, Lancaster said he hoped the new council would complete the town's greenway system, build a new rescue squad building and police headquarters and better fund all emergency services, including more police officers and the construction of a new fire station on the south end of town.

"They are the ones who ran toward the gunfire on April 16," Lancaster said.

Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people in two shootings on the Virginia Tech campus on April 16, 2007.

Lancaster also asked that the council overhaul Ordinance 1450, which was passed last year and limits the placement and size of so-called big-box retail stores in the town limits. On Tuesday, Lancaster called it a "flawed" ordinance. He was also critical of the ordinance when it was being debated last year, but ultimately voted to approve it.

Councilman Don Langrehr, who wrote the ordinance after developer Fairmount Properties of Ohio submitted site plans for a 186,000-square-foot retail store widely thought to be a Wal-Mart Supercenter, said nothing in response. The council honored Lancaster and Holliman for their service at a special council dinner at Awful Arthur's before the meeting.

Council approved several other board and committee appointments Tuesday. They are:

n Frances Russell to the Blacksburg Museum Advisory Committee.

n Lesley Howard, Greg Tew and Elizabeth Moneyhun to the Blacksburg Planning Commission.

n Jonathan McGlumphy and Katherine Ferguson to the Greenway/Bikeway/Sidewalk Corridor Advisory Committee.

n Councilman Al Leighton to the Cemetery Trustee Advisory Committee.

n Mary Holliman to the New River Valley Development Corporation.

n Cory Donovan and Katie Lafon to the Recreation Advisory Board.

n Don Mullins, Shawn Veltman and Jane Warner to the Utilities Advisory Committee.