BAY MINETTE, Ala. — The Bay Minette City Council took a field trip to the city’s Recreation Department Monday evening following the regular meeting to participate in the department’s Rec and Roll New Year’s Party and view the additions and improvements made to the Recreation Center in recent months.

“We are excited about new activities and improvements going on at the Rec Center,” Kelly Johnson, Recreation Department supervisor, said.

Johnson gave a presentation to the council during its meeting, featuring before and after photos of the center.

Probably the most popular improvement and addition is that of the game area, which now includes two cabinets housing 55-inch flat-screen TVs, one connected to a Wii and the other to an X-Box 360.

“We also updated the old video game area. If you’ll remember, we had the old video games, the old space ship and the toy games. We took all those out. The old carpet tiles were coming up, so we had a wood floor — actually it’s vinyl, put in,” Johnson said. “It’s very durable and requires practically no maintenance, just a dry mop and soapy water. 

"The kids and teenagers are having a blast," she added.

Johnson said other possible additions, made possible by the new game systems, included new classes and video game tournaments.

“I just think it will add a lot for us,” she said.

Walls seemed to be an issue, particularly as they related to skaters. Johnson presented a slide show of before-and- after pictures of the walls, which had been transformed into blue and white with a mural above the skate floor.

First up were shots of the outside of the men and women’s restrooms, showing smudged and stained white walls.

“You can see after four or five years of hands trying to hold on to the wall so they won’t fall down on their skates going to the restroom, it’s pretty bad," Johnson said.

“After” photographs showed clean, dark blue walls.

“We went up about eight feet and painted them blue so it didn’t show the dirt as bad,” Johnson said.

Inside the restrooms, individual sinks were replaced with three sinks and a countertop. As well, several individual mirrors were replaced with one large mirror spanning the space of the sinks.

“I think it looks great,” Johnson said.

Just outside the restrooms, replacing a bare wall and tiny, worn out water fountain are a freshly painted blue wall and new water fountain.

One photograph that elicited a few chuckles was one of a spackled drywall patch, which Johnson said again is thanks to skaters trying to catch themselves while falling.

“This is a part of the wall by our offices where they run into the wall, and put a hole in it,” she said. “We fixed that. We got that repaired and painted it.”

The wall and railing around the skate floor were also painted.

“The wall around the skate floor was even dirtier because everyone uses that wall to hold themselves up,” Johnson said. “You can see where the railing around the floor is showing wear. That’s where people hold onto it if they can’t skate very well.”

Above the skate floor, a collection of sports figures is displayed along the wall.

“Amber Stephens, one of our part-timers, painted some figures on the wall of some of our activities. We were trying to come up with a name for the wall, like wall of frame, sort of like wall of fame, but we decided to just call it ‘the wall,’" Johnson said. “There’s football, gymnastics, skating, cheerleading, kickball, tennis, basketball and dance. We’re very proud of that wall. So if you see Amber … tell her what a great job she did.”

Johnson also said a number of security cameras and a metal detector were added.

“We have two (cameras) on the inside, and six on the outside and a metal detector door,” she said.

She said the additions were more for vandalism than violence.

“We just needed the extra security because sometimes (patrons) bring a knife in and we have to confiscate it, but don’t find it until after torn up something. But now people can’t get them in at all,” Johnson said.

Bay Minette Mayor Jamie Tillery thanked Johnson for her accomplishment.

“We will all benefit from this. Young people and families will enjoy all the new things in a more modern setting. People will be able to say, Bay Minette has this, no one else does," she said.

Johnson agreed.

“Oh yeah. We’ve had people call during the holidays call from Mobile and Robertsdale; we’ve had families come in skating all week this week and last week,” she said. "They’re out of school on holiday break and there’s nothing else to do, so they’re coming to Bay Minette because we have the skating rink and the bowling alley right there. There’s something to do here.” 

Tillery gave Johnson additional compliments.

"Kelly, we really do appreciate that you look for things for our young people and always to have fun but also make sure they’re safe,” she said.

In additional business, the council set Feb. 7 as the date for a public hearing regarding the proposed zoning ordinance.

“This is a workable, usable, user-friendly document that is worth every effort,” Tillery said. “I encourage anyone interested to read over this in plenty of time so you can bring questions to the hearing. You can view a copy here at City Hall or at the Building Department.”

Still on the subject of land, the council approved a motion to change the name of Faulkner Lane to Dee Watts Road for 9-1-1 purposes.

“If you have GPS, I encourage you when you get home, put in your location and make sure it shows you where you are, not two blocks down like mine does,” Tillery said. “If I have a fire, I don’t want the fire trucks going to my neighbors house.”

Tillery said if there is a problem with a location, residents should call and alert EMS to the problem.

The council also approved the first reading of a resolution to renew the housing contract with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, though with an increase of $15 over the previous three years.

“We use the county jail when we have to incarcerate prisoners because we do not have a municipal jail,” Tillery said.

A letter from Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack, addressed to Tillery, explained that the increase will bring Bay Minette in line with other municipalities in the county.

“As discussed in the past with the previous mayor and Police Chief Rowland, the housing rate will increase to the same amount we charge other municipalities. This rate will be $50 per day, per inmate,” the letter stated.

Because the current rate of $35 per day was all that was budgeted, the motion to renew the contract must have a second reading. The first reading passed, with Tillery saying that she believed the second reading would be approved, as well.

“This item will go to the (Baldwin) County Commission tomorrow to be voted on there,” she said.

In other business, the Council:

* Approved the appointment of James Robertson and Larry Taylor to the North Baldwin Utilities Board of Directors. The two men will replace outgoing members William Godbey and Pete Pederson. Robertson is a certified public accountant and managing partner with Robertson, Andreoli & Covington, P.C. Taylor is president of Gulf Packaging Inc. Members of the NBU Board of Directors are only allowed to serve one six-year term before stepping down. They can be appointed for another term after an absence of at least two years;

* Announced the next council meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday Monday, Jan. 17;

* Announced an informational meeting Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers to discuss the issue of the baseball league moving to a Dixie Youth league.