ROCKWELL — The members of the Rockwell Board of Aldermen appointed a familiar face to the empty seat left when former Alderman Fred West resigned his position due to taking a job with the town.

Bill Earnhardt was appointed unanimously by the other aldermen to fill West’s empty seat on the board of aldermen during the monthly meeting on Monday. Earnhardt has served the town as a member of the planning board for the past few years and has lived in Rockwell for the past 27 years after being born and raised in Salisbury. Earnhardt also previously served one term on the town’s board of aldermen.

West was first elected to the position in November of 2023 after former Alderman Justin Crews decided not to run for reelection and Chuck Bowman stepped out of the alderman’s chair and into the mayor’s seat to replace the recently-retired Beau Taylor.

West resigned his position in March after he took a position with the Rockwell Police Department due to the conflict of interest that working for a town department posed.

Bowman said that he approached Earnhardt about filling the position because of his past experience serving on the board, as that would be valuable as the board gets into budget season.

Earnhardt said that he had not formulated any plans or goals for his newest term on the board, as he had not yet had any time to dig into the situation on the board due to the quick nature of the appointment required to make the vote on Monday possible. He said that he will have a better idea of how he can help the town once he gets his feet underneath him and has spoken to the other aldermen and Bowman about what is needed.

Earnhardt will complete West’s two-year term, so the seat will be up for election in 2025.