Town council is now down to five councillors with the resignation of Coun. Jason Coakwell.
His resignation was accepted at the March 27 meeting of council.
Coakwell was not at the meeting and could not be reached afterwards for comment on his decision to resign.
"I just want to thank Coun. Coakwell for his contributions to council over the last two terms," said Coun. Keith Dohey at the meeting.
Speaking the next day, Mayor Brad Mapes said Coakwell did not provide the town any reason for his resignation, and he is not required to do so.
"So I'm not exactly sure why he resigned," said Mapes. "I thank him for the service that he did for the last two terms. Other than that there's not much I can say about it."
Since he was on council for almost two three-year terms, Coakwell served for over five years. In that time, he was deeply involved in the process that saw a new recreation centre built.
Mapes said the number of councillors remaining was discussed during an in-camera session following the public meeting on March 27.
"We still have enough to have quorum," he said on March 28. "Council talked about it last night and decided to keep the same group since we've only got about six months left in the term. They just feel that, if they added another person into the mix, we've got quite a bit of stuff to get going on and putting another person into the mix would take too long to get them updated."
Whenever there is a resignation from council, the remaining members can leave the seat vacant for the rest of the term, hold a by-election, or appoint a new councillor.
Mapes said that, since a quorum is four, councillors can't be missing from meetings, and if they can't make it they can call in by telephone and be considered present.
"The majority of council is pretty good at attendance," he said.
Mapes also noted there is no indication that any of the remaining councillors plans to resign between now and the fall.
The mayor said the issue was discussed in camera rather than in public because it is considered a personnel issue.
"Definitely, because it's an employment job," he said. "It can't be discussed in public."
The next municipal election in Hay River will be on Oct. 15.
Coakwell is the third councillor to resign since the municipal elections in 2015.
Mike Maher resigned in December 2016, and Roger Candow resigned in January of this year.