Baileyton Town Council (Heather Mann for The Tribune)
BAILEYTON – The Town of Baileyton is taking steps to make what it says is a dangerous intersection safer.
The intersection in question, at Summit Road and Holly Pond Road, has been the site of numerous car wrecks, according to the council, and at least one fatality (in May 2016). At its meeting this week, the council, along with Mayor Johnny Dyar, said it has almost run out of ideas to make the intersection safer. The solution proposed at the meeting was to follow the City of Hanceville’s lead and purchase LED stop signs to make the stop signs much more noticeable. With County Commissioner Gary Marchman present and willing to discuss having the County help the Town with the project, the council passed a motion to purchase one LED stop sign if the County would purchase the other.
There was some concern that better sign visibility might not help much if drivers were still speeding, but Dyar said he felt the Town had to at least make one last attempt to stop the wrecks. Referencing the last fatality, he stated, “If you’d seen that man lying dead and his wife lying beside him, you’d wanna at least buy a stop sign, too.” However, Dyar said if the LED signs don’t reduce the traffic accidents, he would push for turning that stretch of road over to the County and letting it work on the issue.
In old business, the council said park coaches were supposed to get together and go over the rules for park sports, which they could then send out to parents, but complications arose after the rule sheets were sent out. Dyar proposed having next year’s rules finalized and sent out before sign-ups even begin.
Some pieces of land purchased by the Town need to be cleaned up, so the council is working on hiring someone to perform maintenance.
The council noted that maintenance needs to be performed on a road that was paved last year (damage occurred from people throwing away heavy objects like refrigerators or TVs), but the Town’s dump truck is still being repaired for broken brakes.
In new business:
– There will be a baseball tournament on June 2 to help raise funds for a local victim of throat cancer.
– The council voted to renew the Town’s video service contract with AT&T.
– A Town bus has faded due to sun exposure from not being entirely covered by the bus shed. The bus cost $80,000 and is otherwise in almost-new condition, so the council proposed extending the shed roof by about 8 feet to prevent further damage.
– Two new storm shelters will be added to the town: one near the cemetery, the other near Parkside School. The current storm shelter holds 97 people, but the council said there have been problems with occupants not closing the door during storms to let in more people.
– The cheerleaders from Holly Pond High School are talking with the council and the Baileyton Senior Center about organizing a fundraiser to help pay for a cheerleading building on campus.
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