Fairhope Council approves routine capital and contracting measures, authorizes legal and study contracts

The Fairhope City Council on June 9 approved a slate of routine resolutions authorizing contracts, funding transfers and administrative actions, including a $533,114.43 award for citywide road resurfacing and selection of engineering services for a federally funded sidewalk project.

Why it matters: The approved measures allocate capital and operating funds, preserve public improvements, and authorize the city to pursue legal representation and studies that affect upcoming projects and maintenance work in Fairhope.

The council voted, by voice, to approve the items listed below. Where the meeting record shows financial amounts or transfer instructions, they are included; where roll-call tallies or mover/second names are not specified in the transcript, the article notes that fact.

Votes at a glance

- Harvest Green East Phase 2 — Resolution accepting public improvements and beginning the two-year maintenance period; final plat approved and inspected. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Citywide road repair, resurfacing and striping (Agenda Item 6) — Awarded to HCL Contracting LLC for $533,114.43. The council authorized the treasurer to transfer $33,114.43 from the Rebuild Alabama gas tax fund to the capital projects fund to cover the amount above the $500,000 budget. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- FY2023 TAP sidewalks (Blue Island Avenue and Fairwood Boulevard) (Agenda Item 7) — Council approved the mayor’s selection of Neal Schaffer for construction engineering and inspection (CEI) services and authorized the mayor to negotiate a not-to-exceed fee for later council approval. The project is part of an MPO Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant that reimburses 80% of eligible costs. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Seawall repair at North Beach (Agenda Item 8) — Awarded to Stewart Marine & Construction for a project not to exceed $35,000; treasurer authorized to transfer $35,000 from Parks Capital Improvement (Cowpin Creek project) to cover the work. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Change order for Long’s Human Resource Services (Agenda Item 9) — Authorized an increase to a not-to-exceed total of $145,000 for temporary custodial and landscaping services for Public Works. The council also authorized transfers of $20,000 from streets salaries to streets temp labor and $50,000 from landscape salaries to landscape temp labor. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Dangerous/unsafe structures program legal services (Agenda Item 10) — Authorized the mayor to retain Hand Arendall (executing an engagement agreement or waiver of conflict if required) to represent the city in design, management and prosecution for a dangerous buildings and unsafe structures program, including notifications, remediation and all stages of litigation if necessary. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Demographic study contract (Agenda Item 11) — Authorized the mayor to select, negotiate and execute a contract with a professional consulting service to evaluate and compare demographic data, not to exceed $20,000. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Surplus property (Agenda Item 12) — Declared certain items surplus and authorized the mayor and treasurer to dispose of city personal property via GovDeals. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Energy Southeast community development grant letter (Agenda Item 13) — Authorized the mayor to request $30,000 from Energy Southeast: $5,000 for a mural on a pedestrian tunnel, $20,000 for operating the entrepreneurial development center (HATCH) and $5,000 to be determined. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

- Naming resolution (Agenda Item 14) — Adopted a resolution naming the Fairhope Municipal Fountain and Rose Garden the “Timothy M. Kent Fountain and Rose Garden” in recognition of his service. Approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided.

How the votes were taken: For each agenda resolution the meeting record shows a motion, and the council approved the motion by voice vote with the mayor calling “motion carries.” The transcript includes repeated “all those in favor say aye” exchanges; no individual roll-call votes or counts were recorded in the public transcript.

Next steps and implementation notes: The mayor was authorized to execute maintenance and guarantee agreements, negotiate CEI fees for the TAP project, execute the engagement agreement for legal services and submit the Energy Southeast grant letter. The treasurer was authorized to carry out the budget transfers described above.

Sources and limits: Descriptions above are drawn from council agenda presentations and the public meeting record. Where the transcript did not supply a roll-call vote, individual vote tallies and mover/second names are recorded as not specified in the transcript.