GARLAND — The Garland Board of Commissioners held its second special meeting of the month Thursday evening, marking an important moment for both the new and seasoned members of the board, with the group appointing a new mayor pro tem and, among other things, returning a former town clerk to the position.

New commissioners Ed Gillim and Carolyn Y. Melvin, who were sworn in last week, participated in their first official board meeting. The meeting was held to address key issues that had been added to the agenda for the regular board meeting, which had to be canceled earlier in the month due to town conflict.

The first order of business Thursday was handling leak adjustments for Garland residents who had reported a substantial water bill difference in a timely manner to the town. The board quickly voted to give proper adjustments for all those who reported the discrepancies.

The board then took on its next order of business, which was to appoint a mayor pro tem due to the recent resignation Timothy Blackburn, who had served in that position. Commissioner Jo Strickland nominated Commissioner Ralph Smith for the position, an action that was seconded by Gillim. After the vote, Smith was sworn into office immediately.

“I am absolutely honored to have been chosen by my fellow board members,” said Smith. “I’m also honored to have been able to use my late father’s Bible in my swearing in, as this, too, meant a lot to my dad.”

The next order of business was to discuss the purchase of new Christmas lights for the town, which was brought to discussion by Strickland, who shared with her fellow board members that she had been in contact with the company that provided the lights who had granted the town an extension on purchasing decorations at the previously discounted rate of 33 percent. She had provided board members the necessary material to choose what they liked, and noted that it could be discussed at a future meeting. The board tabled the decision until February’s board meeting

The next key item for the board was to go into closed session to discuss personnel, a motion made by Smith and seconded by Gillim. At the end of the closed session, the board disclosed that no action had been taken while in closed session.

Smith then made the motion to appoint a new town clerk, replacing Alyssa Hale, who on Jan. 6. The board decided to bring back former town clerk Megan Daughtry to fill the recently vacated position. Strickland offered the second. She who had been filling in due to the recent vacancy in the position and helping to keep the town afloat in its time of need.

Smith also made a second motion to hire a deputy clerk for the town, a position that has been unfilled for months. The mayor pro tem nominated Samantha Hobbs to fill the vacated position at a rate which had been discussed in closed session, seconded by Commissioner Melvin.

Salaries for both the town clerk and the deputy clerk are public record and should be provided by the town board.