BELHAVEN — The Town of Belhaven elected to redesign its website at Monday night’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

The new website will be designed by Stan Deatherage, president of the Washington-based Symbiotic Networks Inc.

Belhaven’s Board of Aldermen approved a $4,200 contract with Deatherage and agreed to pay $1,800 up front to help cover the costs of creating the website. Alderman Ricky Credle was absent from Monday’s meeting.

Deatherage will also receive $114 per month to compensate for two hours of work on maintaining the site. For any subsequent hours, the Town must pay him an extra $58 per hour.

“Now, we have a basic website that you’ve got to really be looking for to find,” Mayor Adam O’Neal said. “(Deatherage) has a way of getting a website to the tops of the pages and keeping them there.”

Deatherage also operates www.beaufortcountynow.com and is working with the county to launch www.beaufortcountygovernment.com.

At a June 13 Board of Aldermen meeting, Deatherage presented his plans for Belhaven’s new site to the public.

He said one of the main features of the site is a “double platform,” in which part of the page will be dedicated to official town information and another part will be a space for business pages.

O’Neal said all businesses in Belhaven will have the opportunity to create a page that site visitors can access from the town’s site, although the logistics of and costs associated with that have yet to be discussed.

Town Manager Woody Jarvis said there might also be an opportunity for churches to set up pages within the site and the option to pay utility bills online in the future, as well.

Although the design is a “double platform,” Deatherage said only authorized employees of the town will be able to edit official town information, such as meeting minutes.

Deatherage said he wants to increase traffic to Belhaven’s website, which will in turn give the town more visibility to out-of-towners and easier access for residents.

No time frame for the new site’s launch is nailed down, but Deatherage said at the June 13 meeting that he could have it up and running in a few months.