The meeting took place after all 11 elected councillors had taken the 'Oath of Office' as per the Local Government Act.

Related story: Gloucester's Katheryn Smith is elected to MidCoast Council

Councillor Smith said she was honoured to have former Gloucester Shire Council mayor, John Rosenbaum there to support her as took her affirmation.

“It was really symbolic to have John there,” Cr Smith said.

“I really appreciate his support as we move into something new.”

He was there when Cr Smith was first elected to Gloucester Shire Council in 2008, and she was his deputy at the time of the merger.

Related story: How the MidCoast Council came to be

“I have to congratulation her for taking the position,” Mr Rosenbaum said.

“It’s a great effort on her behalf to be over there representing Gloucester and she will do a good job.

“Someone young like that is really good; she is the future of the council,” he concluded.

First order of business at the first meeting of council was the election of mayor. Councillor David West won the ballot.

Then it was onto the matter of deputy mayor. Cr West endorsed Katheryn Smith who was elected as deputy.

“Having someone so young and so vibrant is absolutely brilliant,” Cr West said.

“To listen to Katheryn when she talks about issues - she picks up on things that a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily consider.”

Four candidates were up for the deputy position and Katheryn won the spot 

Election of both positions was the sole responsibility of the 11 councillors, who cast their vote in a preferential ballot.

“It’s an exciting time for the MidCoast community as we head into a new era. We have a committed group of elected representatives from across the MidCoast area, and we look forward to working closely alongside them to continue the momentum we have built up over the past 16 months,”  MidCoast Council’s general Manager, Glenn Handford said.

As part of the meeting, council adopted a regular meeting schedule through to February 2018 with a monthly Ordinary Council meeting taking place the fourth Wednesday of each month at  2pm in the Taree Administration Centre and a Strategic Committee meeting to be held on the second Wednesday of each month in the Forster Administration Centre.

View the schedule of meeting dates and the meeting agenda on MidCoast Council’s website, http://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Home, where the minutes of each meeting will be uploaded once available.