Two members of Freeport’s depleted council have expressed interest in shrinking the body from seven to five members.

Council President Rick Fennell and Councilwoman Kimberly Barr mulled the idea during an informal feedback session Tuesday night.

“It’s a conversation worth having, is all I’m saying,” Barr said.

A voting meeting was scheduled, but no-shows from council members Sara Conroy, Lori Miller and Sally Riley prevented a quorum.

Further complicating matters, Jeannie Mazurowski and Stephanie VanTine have resigned in recent weeks.

Mazurowski told TribLive last month she needs to prioritize family obligations.

VanTine also said family commitments played a role in her departure ahead of her son enlisting in the Marines.

Like many small towns, Freeport struggles to find and keep elected officials because of in-fighting, time commitments and, rarely, electoral defeat.

The borough is without a mayor after Zack Gent’s departure at the end of last year. Gent announced his resignation plans in October as his relationship with Fennell frayed.

Barr only took office in May to replace Joshua James, and with the departure of VanTine, no council member has much more than a year of experience.

State law offers a solution that might slow the revolving door, at least when it comes to council.

Pennsylvania boroughs not divided into wards have, by default, seven at-large council members.

Communities with less than 3,000 residents — Freeport has just over 1,700 — may reduce their council to five, or even three, members.

The process starts with at least of 5% of registered voters petitioning the county court. From there, the county board of elections adds a referendum question to the next general election ballot. If voters support the measure, the court must issue a final order of approval or denial.

The same steps apply for boroughs that wish to increase their councils to five or seven members.

Residents can’t try to change their council’s size more than once every five years.

If Freeport switched to a five-member council before this year’s election, only two, instead of three, seats would be up for grabs. In 2027, when four seats would otherwise be open, only three would be. Subsequent elections would alternate between two and three available seats.

For now, council’s main concern is filling the seats left vacant by the recent departures.

Letters of interest are being accepted for the two vacant council seats and mayor.

“I think anyone can make a difference,” Fennell said. “It’s not like we’re digging ditches up here or anything.”

He acknowledged, though, “there’s a little bit of time and effort” involved.