Fairhope reviews FY2026 capital equipment, highlights police, fire and infrastructure projects

Kim Creech, a city staff member, presented a review of the FY2026 General Fund and utilities capital equipment and improvements budget at the Fairhope City Council work session on Sept. 8.

Creech told the council the capital equipment budget shows “an increase of 24.5%.” She said some of that increase reflects rollovers: equipment ordered but not yet delivered. “We still have a few more meetings to go through. Just a quick overview, on general fund and their supporting departments,” Creech said.

The review listed department-level purchases and planned rollovers. Among equipment items Creech identified were a $20,000 sensor for the planning department’s new drone, $150,000 in IT network upgrades and an $11,000 camera server; a $34,000 vehicle for human resources; and a police equipment package listed at roughly $620,000, including $140,000 tied to moving the dispatch area and vehicle replacements with associated radars, cameras and radios. Creech also identified roughly $31,000 for handheld police radios.

On the fire side, staff described multi-year budgeting for large apparatus. Creech said the ladder truck already has a purchase order in place from 2022 and its equipment price is listed as $1,600,000; a new engine priced at about $1,000,000 will be budgeted in thirds across three years. A previously ordered engine, listed at $775,000, is expected to arrive in 2026.

Other department items identified included a $160,000 shuttle bus for the next-center program (partially grant-funded), roughly $224,000 in recreation equipment (mowers, skid steer, fitness equipment and a small ice machine for stadium use), $516,000 in sanitation items including two knuckle-boom trucks and a previously approved garbage truck, and multiple vehicles and specialized equipment for streets and landscaping.

Creech said the capital projects fund includes both rollovers and new projects and noted large figures for infrastructure work. “Almost 19,000,000 out of the 21,400,000.0 rollover grama money,” she said while discussing the difficulty of getting grant-funded projects into the ground quickly.

Council members pressed staff on several items. Councilmember (surname) asked whether equipment from retired vehicles was reused; staff said the city surpluses older equipment and typically replaces entire vehicle equipment packages because of newer technology. A councilmember requested more detail on the police vehicle equipment package, saying, “I’d like to see particulars on that,” and staff agreed to provide further breakdowns.

Councilmembers also asked about the scope and funding of recreation and park improvements, the status of marina dredging and seawall work, sidewalk and drainage projects, and renovation rollovers for facilities such as the civic center and museum. Creech said some items are funded by impact fees, grant sources or rollovers and others are newly proposed.

Why it matters: the capital budget spells out short- and multi-year investments in public safety, facilities and infrastructure. Several items—especially the ladder truck and the working capital projects—represent multi-year purchases or grant-dependent projects that will affect future operating and capital planning.

Council next steps: Creech said staff will continue meetings on the utilities budget and will bring additional detail on several line items to follow-up work sessions. She and councilmembers agreed to return to outstanding utilities items in a future meeting.

Ending: The review was informational; council did not take a formal vote on the General Fund capital plan during the work session. Staff said many projects are rollovers and that budgeting and procurement timing will determine when purchases are finalized and when orders are issued to lock in prices.