While many expected a discussion on the hiring of a new city administrator at the first regular meeting after the departure of Vicky Rudy, the only firm decision the council made was to discuss whether they would be hiring a new city administrator at a to-be-scheduled special City Council meeting.

“I would suggest that before getting too far down that road, we have a special meeting to talk about the pros and cons of a city administrator versus a city secretary,” Alderman Bill Hamilton said.

Since Rudy’s departure at the end of September, Mayor Dale Dingley has taken on her responsibilities and said at last week’s city council meeting that he would like to pass the torch as soon as possible.

“I would really like to have a trained administrator on board because there are a lot of little rules and regulations, and I am not a trained city administrator,” he said.

He credits the fact that the transition has gone smoothly with the training and competency of city staff.

While Alderman Brian Nalle made a motion to begin the process of hiring a new city administrator, which he said could begin with the specially called meeting, that motion was defeated in favor of one made by Alderman John Hinton.

“I move that we have a work session among the council to discuss the process of hiring a new city administrator,” he said, noting it should also include a discussion as to how Rollingwood’s code relates to a city secretary versus city administrator.”

In other action:

• The council saw the most recent plans for the expansion of the walking trail, which will now loop in behind the parking lot so that pedestrians will not cross traffic.

• Council members unanimously approved the appointments of Veronica Koltuniak and Tammy Bone to the parks commission.

• Citizens took to the podium at the beginning of the meeting asking the council to take a stronger stance on control of the deer population by creating a “no feed ordinance.”

• Chief Dayne Pryor did not get to deliver his staff report due to the meeting running past 11 p.m., but he said afterwards that there had been a few coyote sightings in the area and that residents should be taking extra precautions, keeping their pets indoors.