Sandy Township and DuBois in Clearfield County officially consolidated into the new “City of DuBois” on Monday.
Seven new council members were sworn in during the new city's organizational meeting. They then voted on several resolutions, including assuming the assets of the old City of DuBois, and determining how money from the old accounts will transfer into new accounts.
The council also voted to choose council member J. Barry Abbott as the first mayor of the newly consolidated city. Solicitor Jason Sabol explained at the meeting that the mayor's role is largely ceremonial.
"The mayor acts, basically, as a chairman for council," Sabol said.
The new City of DuBois is the first city to be formed in Pennsylvania since 1994.
Officials also held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly finished renovations at the DuBois City Hall building.
"The city building went through a multimillion dollar renovation over the last year and a half, so we'd like to show it off," said Ben Kafferlin, one of the interim city managers in DuBois.
Kafferlin said the total cost of the project was about $4.6 million, and that about half of those funds came from the state while the rest came from local funds.
