EAU CLAIRE — Borough council will shrink from seven members to five in coming years.

A petition for the reduction went unopposed in Butler County court Monday, and President Judge Thomas Doerr approved the change.

Borough solicitor Mike Gallagher said like many small communities, Eau Claire, which has a population of just more than 300 people, has trouble filling a seven-member council and getting the four-person quorum needed to vote on the municipality’s business.

At present, the community has five elected council members and two who were appointed.

Jack Buzard, council president, circulated the petition seeking the change. For it to be presented to the courts, more than 5 percent of the registered voters had to sign the petition.

Buzard and fellow Councilman Gus Thompson testified in favor of the change, Gallagher said.

No one will be fired or dismissed from the council. Instead the positions will be eliminated as they come up for election. The next municipal election is in two years.

While borough council seats are four-year commitments, people who have been appointed are only responsible for two-year terms.