Morris Mayor Joe Pylant said Tuesday that applications were closed for the open police chief’s position, and that he hopes to have a new chief in place “real soon.”

Pylant’s remarks came at the end of the Morris Town Council’s regular monthly meeting.

The town has been without a police chief since Pylant decided not to rehire then-chief Brain Cochran when Pylant began his term as the new mayor. That action brought a storm of protests from residents, many of whom had just voted Pylant into office weeks before.

Meanwhile, a new officer has been hired by the department. Brad Scott, currently a part-time officer with Warrior, has been hired to replace Matthew Rutheford, who left the force.

Councilman Steve Jones said that the department is looking into hiring an additional part-time dispatcher, which would restore the department to having a dispatcher on duty 24 hours a day. Currently, when no one is on duty, incoming calls either go to neighboring departments, or are forwarded directly to cell phones of officers on duty.

In other business, the council:

• Set a speed limit on streets in The Highlands subdivision of 25 miles per hour;
• Voted to take part in the state’s severe weather preparedness sales-tax holiday;
• Tabled a motion to approve skid car training for city employees who drive as part of their duties, with the motion to be reconsidered once the council finds out how many employees would take part;
• Revised an agreement with Turkey Creek Properties regarding development adjacent to the new Shell gas station/convenience store on U.S. 31, changed to reflect that the properties are now owned by one person instead of a group;
• Opened sealed bids for repaving streets within The Highlands. Good Hope Construction was the low bidder at $80,687.50, but a motion to approve was tabled so that Pylant could find out how long the bid was in effect.