When all was said and done, Thursday night’s meeting of the Tyrone Town Council amounted to housekeeping duties relating to the town charter. The items up for revision made no major changes the charter but did clear up the language and amend some portions of the charter that had not been addressed since 1998.

Perhaps what might have been a more significant issue but was left as it stood was the question of the town’s governmental structure. The town has functioned both previously and still today under a “weak mayor” model of government, said town attorney Dennis Davenport. Under that model, the mayor runs the meetings and votes to break tie votes by the council. Some of the changes made to the charter in 1998 that had formerly been the responsibility of the mayor were given to the town manager, Davenport said. After some discussion by the council, the board decided to leave the language as it is currently written.

Another question arose over the responsibility of the town manager and police chief for hiring and firing authority in their respective departments. Mayor Don Rehwaldt felt such responsibility would be appropriate for those positions since they had the background and the knowledge to perform those duties. Davenport said the charter gives those authorities to the mayor, but added that the mayor could delegate those duties to the town manager and police chief.

“That would not conflict with the wording of the charter as it exists now,” Davenport said, noting Rehwaldt’s preference and adding that the mayor could take that authority back if such a decision was made.

Another question involved the definition of a quorum. A discussion by the council led to a preference to leave the language as it currently exists, with a quorum being defined as the mayor and three council members rather than language that listed a quorum as a majority of the members of the mayor and council, including the mayor.

Significant in the changes was the inclusion of the words “dust” and “sand” in the section of the charter dealing with the town’s ability to regulate the “emission of smoke and other exhaust that pollutes the air.” Council member Gloria Furr recommended the addition.

Much of the meeting dealt with cleaning up minor language found in a number of places in the charter. Those changes were for reasons such as substituting the word “town” for the word “city” or changing the term “city clerk” to “court clerk” and the term “repealed code section” with “updated code section.”

Davenport said he would have the revisions ready by the middle of the following week. Councilman Tracy Young and others on the council said that would give the town time to post the revised version on the town’s website for citizens to view and comment on. The council will continue its work on the charter revisions at the next meeting.

Also at the meeting, a closed session discussion led to the dismissal of police Officer Janine McElwaney.

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