Glen Osborne council welcomes 2 new members to fill roles of longtime public servants
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Glen Osborne Council recently added two familiar faces to its seven-member panel shortly after saying goodbye to two longstanding members.
Council President Thomas Huddleston and Councilwoman Holly Merriman resigned effective Dec. 31.
Council accepted their resignations and swiftly appointed their replacements, Greg Curran and Anne Fruehauf, on Dec. 17 following a celebratory farewell led by Mayor Barbara Carrier.
However, seat occupiers will not officially change until this month, as they are expected to be sworn in by the mayor sometime before the next voting session Jan. 21.
Huddleston, 66, a Republican, has served on council for 14 years, including several as president.
He said his expanding role in the financial services sector no longer allows him a lot of time to devote to the borough.
“This came with significant stress and evaluation,” Huddleston said. “Due to some business commitments and my extensive travel, I felt it would be a good time to step back.
“I feel the borough is probably in the best shape it’s been in my 14 years on the council. I feel the borough is in a better spot today than when I joined. That’s not because of me. It’s because of the people in the room and some of my predecessors.”
His current term was set to expire at the end of 2026.
Merriman, an independent who declined to give her age, also said she was stepping down because of more work commitments. She has been on council for 11 years, including several as finance committee chair. Her term was set to expire at the end of 2025.
“I want other people to have the experience that I’ve had serving the community,” Merriman said. “It’s been such a wonderful experience. Even though I’m sentimental about leaving, I’m glad that this will lead to someone else being able to have the opportunity to serve the community. It’s hard to manage a household, a full-time job and this.”
Carrier presented Huddleston and Merriman with borough flags while lauding them for their many years of service to the community, in particular their fiscal responsibility and willingness to speak out about important issues.
“We’re a small municipality with little resources, but we’ve been able to do things for our citizens with the money we have and not have problems with this money,” the mayor said.
Glen Osborne has not raised real estate taxes for three straight years and has an estimated $830,000 in reserves.
The borough also made extensive infrastructure upgrades to Beaver and Sycamore roads, among other locations, and streamlined financial reporting during Huddleston and Merriman’s tenures.
New members
Curran, 66, a Democrat, was appointed to fill Merriman’s shoes, and Fruehauf, 58, an independent, was appointed to fill Huddleston’s seat.
Curran served on the borough planning commission for about 12 years.
He is a retired investment professional with more than 40 years’ experience managing fixed income and equities for high-profile and high-net-worth institutions and individuals.
Curran was a quantitative analyst and portfolio specialist for Salomon Brothers in New York City. He also worked for PNC Bank and Bank of New York Mellon.
“I’m not afraid of the numbers,” Curran said about taking over for the borough finance chair. “This is just one piece in the whole puzzle. We all need to work together. I retired at the end of 2023. So I’ve got some opportunity to help the community. The opportunity came up, and I raised my hand. I’m looking forward to it. It will be an opportunity to learn more workings of the council, and I’m all for it.”
Curran will have to run in the May primary to keep his new seat.
Fruehauf, a senior paralegal for Fiffik Law Group, previously served on council from June 2022 through December 2023 when she filled in for the late Robert Ryan.
Fruehauf was one of the driving forces behind the revision of the borough’s zoning ordinance and subdivision and land development ordinance.
She ran in the November 2023 election in a tough race with five candidates for three seats.
Allegheny County Elections Division records show she missed the cut by a few votes. Huddleston was the top vote-getter with 142 votes followed by Joshua Lambert (130) and Bill Monski (126). Fruehauf got 124 votes.
“I loved working with everybody and left a note that if they ever had the need, I would be interested in helping them out,” Fruehauf said. “It was a lot of fun, and it was great to give back to this community I’ve lived in for so long. When I served before, it was such an intense focus on just the zoning and subdivision. I wanted to get back on council and dive into some of the other issues facing the borough.”
Fruehauf has an extensive legal background, having worked for Amato Start & Associates and for McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
Huddleston believes Curran and Fruehauf will do great things with the rest of council.
“This is a volunteer board,” Huddleston said. “(These are) people who are trying to do the best they can with a common purpose. This is a unique council. It’s not political. It’s committed to the betterment of Glen Osborne Borough. When there are differences, they are quickly forgotten.”
Quick appointments
Council Vice President John Orndorff made the motions to appoint the new members.
Orndorff said both Curran and Fruehauf were very familiar with fellow council members and their work for the borough has been exceptional.
He suggested other residents who want to get on council run in the next municipal election.
“I think there is plenty of time for more people to get involved in the (political) process since these guys are only filling the residue of the terms, one year in the case of Holly (and) two years in the case of Tom,” Orndorff said. “These two individuals (Fruehauf and Curran) have already shown their dedication to the borough by being on council or being on the planning commission for extended periods of time. Because any transition can be tricky in terms of getting everyone working on the same plane, having these two individuals fill those vacancies (is) very nice.”
The vacancies were not posted or advertised, a move that may have sparked interest from other residents.
Borough solicitor Harlan Stone said posting the vacancies is not a legal requirement.
The council had 30 days to fill the vacancy with the clock starting the day after the resignations were formally accepted, Stone said.
If no one is appointed within that time, the matter goes before a vacancy board for about two weeks.
If there is still a vacancy afterward, a resident could petition Allegheny County Court to have a judge appoint someone.
Stone said council was under no obligation to wait to address the pending vacancies following its acceptance of the resignations.