The consensus of council Tuesday was "it was a sad day in Clark."

The reason for that sadness was the surprise resignation of Mayor Doug Bradley, who announced in a letter to council that he was ending what he said was a tenure of "26 years and 10 months as both a council member and mayor."

"We're going to have to look long and hard to find somebody to fill your shoes," Councilman Bob Tomko told Bradley just moments before council unanimously, but regretfully, accepted his resignation, effective Oct. 31.

"Anybody can be replaced," said Bradley, who helped guide the community through some difficult times in the past year after the November tornado that devastated the borough.

Bradley, who had two years remaining on his term, said he planned on spending the winter with his family in Virginia and told council he didn't think it would be fair to the borough to retain his position and not be available.