Spanish Fort council adopts redistricting ordinance, playground turf contract and multiple routine resolutions

The Spanish Fort City Council on the meeting day adopted a set of ordinances and resolutions covering redistricting, public-works acceptance, park improvements, training and equipment agreements.

Ordinance 702-2025, which amends and clarifies district lines for municipal elections following the 2020 census, was adopted after staff reviewed corrections to parcel (PIN) numbers and small boundary clarifications. The roll call on the ordinance showed unanimous support: Smith, Gustafson, Perry, Wynne, Brabner and the Mayor voted yes, and the mayor declared the ordinance adopted.

The council approved Resolution 1491-2025 to accept Thistledown Loop and Bramshale Drive in Churchill Phase 5 for city maintenance. Staff said a two-year maintenance bond in the amount of $516,321.79 and an engineer's estimate supporting that bond were attached to the request. The resolution passed on roll call.

The council adopted Resolution 1494-2025 authorizing the mayor to enter an agreement with Forever Lawn Inc. for installation of artificial turf in a children's playground at the Spanish Fort Town Center. The contract amount discussed was $297,530 for labor and materials under a Sourcewell cooperative procurement. Councilmembers debated whether the resolution text should say “playground” or “playground turf”; members agreed to amend the resolution to specify “playground turf” to reflect the exhibit describing turf replacement and prefabricated turfed features such as a pre-turfed mound and an incorporated hopscotch. The motion to adopt with that amendment carried on roll call.

Council also approved Resolution 1495-2025, authorizing an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to allow removal of certain concrete adjacent to the right of way at the site planned for Valor Park and to construct a new parking lot, driveway and access within the right of way that the city will maintain under the terms of the agreement.

A memorandum of understanding with Culture City (Resolution 1496-2025) was adopted to provide sensory-inclusive training and equipment for the Fire Rescue Department. Staff said the training and equipment would be provided through Culture City and grants and private contributions at no cost to the city; the training covers interaction and accessibility for people with autism and other sensory-related conditions.

The council authorized Resolution 1498-2025 to rent a Turf Tank USA robotic paint sprayer for athletic-field line marking. Staff described an implementation/installation fee of $1,700 and an annual rental of $16,000; the machine uses GPS to mark fields and staff said it could save labor hours and paint compared with manual striping.

The council immediately considered and adopted Resolution 1508-2025, an agreement with Hunter Security to monitor two-way elevator communications at the Community Center. Staff said the monitoring would cost $55 per month for a three-year term and confirmed the elevator has an interior camera that would be part of the monitoring setup.

Several administrative or introduced items were also taken up: Ordinance 703-2025 (an ordinance to exempt covered items from the municipal sales and use tax during the state-authorized back-to-school holiday) was introduced and will appear on the May 5 agenda; Resolution 1502-2025 (amending Community Center rules and fees) was held for revision and is scheduled for May 5; and a proposed award for a portable police training facility to GT Distributors Inc. (bid amount $20,269) was introduced for consideration on May 5.

Where votes were recorded in the transcript, roll-call tallies were unanimous among present members on adopted items; the transcript shows councilmembers voting in the affirmative for the items listed above.