It was the first retreat for Tyrone’s new mayor and council. The Feb. 23 council retreat saw discussions on issues such as the possibility of a new meeting schedule, local option sales tax revenues, town employee positions and a move toward certification by the police department.

The council discussed an alteration to the meeting schedule with the consideration of holding a work session and a regular meeting each month rather than the current two regular sessions. Responding to a question from the council, town attorney Dennis Davenport said the board would generally not take action at a work session, though votes could be taken at those meetings. Davenport said work sessions provide a venue for agenda items to be discussed in greater depth. After the discussion the council agreed to have Town Manager Chris Venice prepare a sample schedule with options for consideration at a later date.

Venice reported that SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) receipts were running three percent lower than projected. Set for collection from 2006-2010 and anticipated to bring in $1.5 million in revenue, the town has collected $573,253. SPLOST revenues are used for projects such as resurfacing streets, road alignment, intersection improvements and multi-use paths.

Several items concerning town employee positions made the retreat discussion. The town currently contracts for a civil engineering staff, though Venice said she believed the day is coming when the town would need a civil engineer on staff. The current engineering firm will be maintained for now with a needs assessment to be conducted over the next year. The council also discussed an accounting supervisor position. Such a position has been advertised since July 2007 with no success in finding the appropriate person to fill it, Venice said. The council agreed that the town should pursue contract services for the position as the money to pay the position is already included in the current budget.

In a general discussion of the potential for town employees receiving merit raises, Mayor Don Rehwaldt said that, with or without merit increases, performance evaluations should be brought back. Venice will examine the entire pay and performance evaluation systems and report back to the council.

During his presentation, Police Chief Brandon Perkins said he is working on an emergency operations plan for the police department and cited the need to prepare a similar plan for city hall. Such a plan would be essential to maintain town services in the event of a tornado or some other type of disaster.

On another topic, Perkins said the department is working toward certification. A mock assessment is expected in May or June, he said, with the department potentially ready for the actual certification process by the end of the year. Perkins said certification should result in a 20 percent reduction in the city’s liability insurance premium.

Among other items at the meeting, Venice offered to do a Request for Proposal to advertise for an auditing firm.

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