BLACKSBURG -- Town council appointed a subcommittee Tuesday to recommend a procedure, and perhaps a slate of names, to fill the seat of the late Councilman Derek Myers.

Myers died Feb. 23 at the Lewis Gale Medical Center in Salem of a strep infection. He was elected to the council in May and took his seat in July.

Under state law, the council must fill the empty post within 45 days of Myers' death or cede the responsibility to the Montgomery County Circuit Court, Town Attorney Larry Spencer said.

On Tuesday, Rordam asked council members Tom Sherman and Susan Anderson to confer and present some recommendations at a special work session tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 10. Those recommendations could include the names of potential appointees, Rordam said.

The last such appointment occurred in 2006, when the council chose Mary Holliman to fill the seat vacated by Rordam after his election as mayor. Holliman ran an unsuccessful campaign for a council seat that year.

At that time, the council held part of their appointment discussions in open session, a remarkable break with tradition.

Most local governments, including Blacksburg, have in the past chosen to exercise an option in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to keep such discussions confidential.

But, according to Rordam, Myers' succession will be discussed in public.

"It's our intention to do it all in the open, just like we did last time," the mayor said.

According to e-mails sent to the council and obtained by The Roanoke Times through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, former council candidate Frank Lau, former Planning Commissioner Cecile Newcomb and Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth co-founder Mark Lattanzi have volunteered to fill the vacant seat.

Other residents have nominated Rhoda Myers, wife of the late councilman; Michael Hedgepeth, son of former Mayor Roger Hedgepeth; and Planning Commissioner Holly Lesko.

Roger Hedgepeth wrote in to support the appointment of Paul Lancaster, whose name has caused a flurry of e-mail messages to the council.

Lancaster won a seat in 2004 with support of Citizens First, a political action committee that opposed Hedgepeth and other supporters of a plan to build a conventional sewer system in the Toms Creek Basin.

Lancaster was unseated in the 2008 election after alienating some of his former allies. The most notable disagreement came over the 2006 rezoning along South Main Street.

During the last council campaign, Lancaster -- now a planning commissioner -- was unapologetic about voting to approve that rezoning, which led to the proposal to build a 180,000-square-foot retail store widely though to be a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

About 16 residents, a number of them affiliated with BURG, have written to oppose the former councilman. A few of those e-mails have labeled Lancaster as "rude" and "arrogant" and recounted unfavorable dealings with him.

"I'm happy to have people give us their opinions, but we don't need to get into character assassination," Sherman said.

But overall, e-mail support for Lancaster's appointment has been overwhelming. Over the past week nearly 40 residents -- including Virginia Tech officials and business, civic and nonprofit leaders -- have written in to recommend him. Lancaster works in media relations and visual and broadcast communications at Tech.

The appointed council member will serve until Dec. 31. A special election to fill the seat will be held in November. The winner will serve until 2011.