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Fairhope council removes agenda item after executive session citing bid-law concerns
Summary
After a closed-door executive session requested by City Attorney Marcus McDowell, the Fairhope City Council removed an agenda item and did not vote on it, citing legal uncertainty around Alabama bid law and potential litigation.
The Fairhope City Council returned from a roughly 30-minute executive session on June 3 and removed an agenda item without taking a vote after receiving legal advice that the matter raised bid-law and litigation risks.
City Attorney Marcus McDowell asked the council to go into executive session “based on Alabama Code to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation,” saying the discussion involved controversies that were imminently likely to be litigated if the council pursued the proposed course of action.
After the closed session, the presiding official said council members and attorneys had reviewed “every possible solution” but, on advice of counsel, concluded “it’s just too much of a gray area, and we don’t want to take any chances with bid law.” The presiding official said the council would not take a vote on the agenda item and removed it from the special-called meeting.
The letter read into the record before the executive session said the council would be in executive session for approximately 30 minutes. The council then moved to adjourn. The meeting record does not state the specific agenda item under discussion or provide further details of the legal issue discussed in executive session.
Announcements during the meeting included community events: youth baseball district tournaments to be hosted in Fairhope in June and a groundbreaking for a K-1 center in partnership with the Baldwin County Economic Development Authority scheduled for Monday before the next council meeting. Those items were presented as community announcements and did not result in formal council actions during the special call meeting.
The council gave no formal direction for follow-up public actions during the meeting; the only formal outcomes recorded were the approvals to add and then enter the executive session by voice vote, the removal of the unidentified agenda item after the executive session, and adjournment.
