DALTON, Ga. — The Dalton City Council is moving ahead with plans to put the historic railroad depot at 110 Depot St. up for sale.

Council members voted 4-0 Monday to approve a $7,000 contract with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation for marketing and consulting services related to the possible sale. The Georgia Trust is a nonprofit group that aims to preserve the state’s historic sites and buildings, largely by connecting the owners of endangered properties with buyers who will preserve and enhance them.

“They have a list of people across the state who specialize in buying and renovating historical buildings like that,” said councilman Gary Crews.

“They will be able to advertise the depot to all of the people on that list,” he said.

The trust will also review any historic preservation easement placed on the building before it is sold.

The council closed the building, which formerly housed the Dalton Depot & Trackside Tavern restaurant, in November of 2015, citing conditions that “posed potential health hazards to the public,” including mold. The building has remained empty since.

The city owns the building. The City Council put the building up for bids in 2017 but did not get any offers.

But Jeremiah Consulting, a Kennesaw-based firm which renovates historic properties and converts them into “third places,” places separate from home or work such as cafes, restaurants and parks, was interested in the building.

City officials began talks with Jeremiah but company officials had concerns about the historic conservation easement the city had suggested. The easement will guarantee that the original parts of the building remain essentially unchanged. That easement originally said that the mayor and council would determine if the terms of the easement were being met. At Jeremiah’s suggestion, the language was changed so that the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation will be the organization that will determine whether any changes to the building conform with the easement.

Mayor Dennis Mock said after that, negotiations started to slow.

Jeremiah partner Dale Hughes said in a recent interview that he is too busy with his other properties to take on renovating the building and running it.

After inspecting the building in 2016, Hughes said his “gut feeling” was that it would cost $600,000 to $1 million to fix the depot.

Council members also voted 4-0 to:

• Change the city charter to change the official title of council members to councilmember from alderman. Council members made the change because women now occupy two seats on the council.

• Approve a $9,500 agreement with Blue Rose Capital Advisors of Minneapolis, Minn., to serve as the bidding agent for investment of the $40.4 million in bonds that will be issued by the city to fund construction of a new sixth- and seventh-grade school for Dalton Public Schools. Voters approved a referendum in November authorizing the issuing of the bonds.

Also, council members recognized Dalton Middle School student Tripp Phillips, inventor of Le-Glue, for winning the inaugural PitchDIA contest last week. Phillips won $5,000 and various business services in the entrepreneurial contest. Le-Glue is a water-soluble glue strong enough to hold Legos together but will not damage them.

City Attorney Jim Bisson swore in Cliff Cason at the new police chief. Cason, who was the assistant chief and had served as interim chief since former chief Jason Parker was hired as Dalton’s city administrator in January, was selected as chief by the Public Safety Commission earlier in the day.

In the council’s work session, Whitfield County Attorney Robert Smalley and Board of Commissioners Chairman Lynn Laughter spoke about the county’s upcoming comprehensive plan, which must be presented to the state by Oct. 31.

If the county does not submit the plan by that date, both the county government and the city government would be non-complying governments and would be ineligible for state funds.

Dalton officials must certify that the city’s service-delivery agreement with the county, which specifies the services each government will provide, is in place.

Council members said they would discuss that at a future meeting.