BAILEYTON — When the Baileyton Town Council moves into its new town hall, the former town hall will be known as “The Walker Brothers Center,” the town council decided Monday night.

Councilman Gene Sumner proposed the name in recognition of Walker Brothers’ contributions to the town. “As much as the Walker Brothers have done for the Town of Baileyton, and I understand they built this [current council building] and the fire station too, I wanted to run it by the council that we name it the Walker Brothers Center.”

They also voted to allow Dr. Josiah Daily to use office space at the current town hall, but will still be able to rent out the facility for events. Daily will pay the electric and water bills for the building in exchange for the office space.

Several items discussed at Monday’s meeting revolved around the new town hall. Although no completion date has been announced, the council discussed some of the issues the move will entail, including new furniture for the mayor and clerks’ offices. Councilwoman Myra Martin said, “When we move into Town Hall, Pat (City Clerk Gilbert) and Johnny (Mayor Dyer) are going to need new desks because these desks in here are very old.”

Dyar suggested they keep an eye out for inexpensive pieces they can use at the new Town Hall. “If we can find something, we’ll have to bring it back before the council,” he said. “If we see something, if it’s reasonable, we’ll just have to let everyone look at it and see what they want to do.”

The council also discussed presenting an ordinance at the next meeting to increase the mayor’s salary by $1,500. The current salary is $8,700 per year. Council members are paid $2,400 per year. If approved by the council, the increase won’t go into affect until after the next municipal election.

Also at Monday night’s town council meeting, Dyer announced that all the town’s security cameras are up and running. “We’ve got the whole town, counting the town hall, the medical center, the senior center, storm shelter, the park, the parking lot, the playground, all the bathrooms, which is going to be a big lifesaver on toilet paper,” he said. Theft from bathrooms has been an issue, he added. “Now we can see who goes in and who goes out.”

Signage alerts people that they are being recorded, and 16 more signs are scheduled to be posted. “We’ve got everything that I know of covered,” said the mayor. The only missing part was wi-fi at the park. The council approved a measure to get coverage at the park.

In other business, Gilbert also announced that the Community Action Partnership of North Alabama will be at Baileyton Town Hall Thursday, Jan. 9 at 9 a.m. to sign people up for heating assistance. She said individuals should bring their 2019 income statement, proof of identity, social security card for everyone in the household and their most current gas or electric bill.

High speed internet service to Baileyton was also discussed. Gilbert said Cyber Broadband has applied for a state grant to expand its service into rural areas, and said she was told that if it is approved, the company will begin expansion immediately. Meanwhile, she said, Charter is also looking at some areas of the town to see if it makes financial sense to expand into those areas. AT&T also serves parts of the area, but Gilbert said, “AT&T has told me that they have no plans to expand their service out here. I guess they just don’t need our business.”

The next meeting of the Baileyton Town Council will be Monday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.