A special called meeting of the Dallas County Water Board spent close to half of its time behind closed doors Thursday.

Less than five minutes after Chairman Joe Thomas called the meeting to order, Vice-Chairman James Hale motioned for the board to enter an executive session. After a unanimous vote, the room was cleared except for board members, County Commissioner Connell Towns and two secretaries with the board.

Thomas said the executive session was called to discuss good name and character. Hale said the special meeting was called to handle &uot;unfinished business.&uot;

There was no public notice given of the emergency meeting, according to Thomas.

Before entering executive session, Harold Bradford, superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant, informed the board that he was ready to retire.

According to Bradford, it isn’t the first time he’s let his employer know he was ready to leave.

Bradford said he first informed AquaSource &045;&045; the company that formerly handled the water board’s current duties &045;&045; in November 2002 that he wanted to retire. Thursday was the first time he let the current water board know his intentions.

Bradford said he wants his replacement hired by July 7 and certified by Sept. 8. He added that if the board hasn’t acted by Sept. 8, he would quit.

The only reason he had stayed so long was because of a $25,000 per day fine the Alabama Department of Environmental Management would levy against the board for not having a certified operator on the job, Bradford said.

In other matters the board: