During Tuesday's regular meeting, Coaldale council members had agreed to hold a special meeting Friday; but the meeting couldn't be held because it hadn't been advertised.

The time and date for the special meeting had been noted in a Times News article Wednesday, but publication in a general news article does not satisfy the advertising requirement.To hold a special meeting, a municipality must publish a notice of the meeting in a newspaper of general circulation 24 hours before the meeting and must also post the notice of that meeting in a prominent location, such as the door of a municipal building.Council had hoped to accomplish several important actions: appointing a mayor to replace Richard Kellner, who resigned effective Dec. 1; appointing a council member to finish the term of Linda Miller, who passed away Nov. 16; appointing a new zoning hearing officer, to replace Pete Sachon, who resigned in October; and naming a replacement for secretary/treasurer Andrea Davis, who quit Monday.Council President Angela Krapf said she had contacted the Times News on Wednesday morning. All council members were present Friday, and agreed to hold the special meeting Tuesday; Krapf said she'd contact the Times News Monday morning to place the advertisement for the special meeting.During the Tuesday council meeting, the board had deadlocked on two nominees for council, Dave Hutta and Vincent "Skip" Miller, who is the husband of the late Linda Miller.Krapf, Brenda Hosler and Harry Hontz backed Miller; while Tom Keerans, Mike Doerr and Yvonne Stoffey backed Hutta. With no mayor to break the tie, neither nomination was successful.They had received two letters of interest for the position of mayor, but decided not to take action that night.In the case of a tie, the person who was nominated to serve on the vacancy board can break the tie, but during Tuesday's meeting, it could not be determined whether or not someone had been appointed to serve on the vacancy board. The vacancy board consists of council and one person who is a registered voter of the municipality.On Friday, some council members said that a former council member named Joanne Melloy may have been appointed to serve during the council's reorganizational meeting in January.No one could confirm that though, and council members said they would check their records before Tuesday's meeting.