OREM — The City Council chose Mark Seastrand to fill the council seat left open by the recent death of Doug Forsyth.

Seastrand has lived in Orem for 45 of his 46 years. He now lives in southwest Orem and is involved in the city's Southwest Alliance, a group that studies and identifies key issues in the neighborhood.

"This will be quite an experience and I'm grateful for the opportunity," he said Thursday night at a brief special session called to allow the council to make a final decision and meet the legal deadline for filling the vacancy.

Seastrand will be sworn in at Tuesday's City Council meeting. A welcoming reception for Seastrand will be held prior to the meeting starting at 5:30 p.m.

Forsyth died last month, succumbing after battling leukemia for several years. His widow, Andrea Forsyth, attended Thursday's appointment meeting. She said she remains interested in events of the city.

"These people have all become my friends," she said.

Seastrand works for Inspire Graphics, an Internet company that sells art graphics such as fonts.

He was born in American Fork, attended Brigham Young University for undergraduate and master degrees in business administration. He is married to Shelly Seastrand.

Seastrand said he has witnessed the city's growth over the past years and is concerned about traffic flow through Orem.

He noted that Utah Valley State College is growing fast. He wants to help plan that growth to be beneficial to both the city and college, he said.

Seastrand was supportive of a recreation, arts and parks tax that voters approved in November. He wants to ensure the money "becomes a valuable asset to the community," he said.

Councilman Dean Dickerson told Seastrand: "Your life is going to be immensely more complicated than it was 20 years ago."

Seastrand was among 14 people who submitted their names to the council for consideration.

"This has been excruciating for us in terms of consideration in making this appointment," Mayor Jerry Washburn said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com