Fairhope City Council declares emergency after Grand Hotel lift station collapses

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The Fairhope City Council on May 14, 2025, declared an emergency after heavy rain caused what the city described as a “catastrophic” failure of the Grand Hotel lift station, authorizing immediate contracts for repairs and temporary pump equipment.

The emergency resolution — read into the record at the special meeting and approved by voice vote — authorizes the mayor to execute contracts to relocate and build a regional lift station (not to exceed $2,872,000), reroute and rebuild the Grand Hotel lift station (not to exceed $750,000) and purchase bypass pumps (not to exceed $250,000). The council adopted the declaration as an emergency public works project pursuant to the Code of Alabama citation read into the record.

City staff said the wet well at the Grand Hotel collapsed during the rain event of May 10, 2025, and that repairs must proceed swiftly to avoid further damage and to maintain sewer service for the area. “This is an unforeseen damage,” said Daryl, a city staff member, describing a collapse in part of the wet well. He told the council the city plans to build a new lift station immediately east of the current hotel lift station to serve flows from the north, south and the Lakewood area.

Daryl said both the new regional station and the Grand Hotel station must be functional together because “they work in unison with each other.” He estimated the construction contract would run about 180 days — roughly six months — and said the city expects to maintain sewer service during construction by rerouting flows into the original wet well and by purchasing bypass pumps. “It’s basically our only option,” Daryl said of the interim reroute and pumping plan.

Staff told the council the work is budgeted and that the city intends to use its emergency on-call contractor for immediate repairs. An engineer working for the city supplied drawings and materials for the emergency meeting, and staff said they do not foresee change orders at this time.

A council member asked whether emergency status would increase costs; staff responded that the work is budgeted and that the emergency on-call contract will be used to carry out the repairs. Another council member noted that starting the full replacement now would likely cost less than repeated repairs.

The presiding official read the emergency declaration into the record, then turned the presentation over to Daryl for details and a timeline. After discussion, a council member moved to approve the resolution; a second was recorded verbally, and the council approved the resolution by voice vote with no opposition recorded. The resolution was entered on the record during the May 14 session and authorizes immediate contracting so work can begin.