FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Despite the economic downturn in the country, 2009 brought a lot of new developments to Fairhope, Mayor Tim Kant said this week.

“It’s been a busy year, and I feel really good about all the great things that have happened in Fairhope this past year,” he said.

Some of the “big changes around Fairhope” during the past year, according to the first issue of the city’s newsletter that will be published later this year, include the opening of a new Hampton Inn in downtown Fairhope, with 89 guest rooms and an adjacent parking garage providing 181 spaces for the downtown area.

The newsletter will also note the recent opening of the Windmill Market, an open air market of local crafts and fresh vegetables, which features an operating wind turbine and other renewal energy building materials and ingredients.

The City Sketches newsletter will also note the following events that occurred in 2009:

• The first city sales tax was passed by the City Council.

• Bill Press was named as the city’s new police chief.

• Gregg Mims was appointed as the first city administrator in Fairhope.

• Quail Creek Golf Course reopened after extensive renovations.

• The city purchased 38 acres of property east of Greeno Road near the public high and middle schools for future recreation growth.

• A “complete streets” policy was adopted by the city, meaning that when new roads are built, planners will consider all modes of transportation, including bicycles and pedestrians.

While many such events did occur in 2009, a number of them did not come without significant controversy, including the passage of the sales tax, the national search for a new police chief, and the creation of the city administrator position, all of which set the mayor and some council members in opposition with each other.

“I think that we had a rough first year going this, but these were changes in my opinion that had to come about,” said Councilman Dan Stankoski, regarding a number of steps taken to establish a stronger council, which included shifting the hiring authority of most senior city employees from the mayor to the council.

“This particular council was of a mind that that they were going to indeed be a strong council, and those are the kinds of things you have to do in order to execute the authority that you’re given by the state,” he said. “Some of these things just had to be done. And we got them done, and like anything else, with change, there’s always differences of opinion. But you work through that, and majority rules, and you do what’s best for the city, and you move forward.”

Stankoski said a significant accomplishment during the past year was that no city employees were laid off or furloughed as occurred in several Baldwin County cities. He also noted the opening of the new recreational center, an improved communications system in city government, the hiring of a new human resources director and the ongoing development of a new personnel handbook.

“The big thing is we didn’t take on any more debt,” said Council President Lonnie Mixon. “When we went in one of my major concerns was controlling the budget. So, throughout the year we were paying down our debt service.”

Councilman Rick Kingrea said the city had three major accomplishments: the establishment of a stronger council; the establishment of the Financial Advisory Committee (which both Mixon and Stankoski also cited as a major accomplishment); and the movement toward more fair treatment by the city, especially regarding planning decisions.

“Although it’s not coming along as quickly as I would like, I think we’re moving toward a situation where every citizens feels like he is treated equal,” said Kingrea, noting there have been perceptions that some developers have received favorable treatment by the city. “There is a perception that that there has been a difference in treatment. That’s not saying it has been done or hasn’t been done, but we need to make sure that everybody is treated the same, and that everybody goes through the same process.”

Kingrea pointed to some proposed policy changes in the planning department that are aimed at that goal but would not specify them in detail, other than to state that “we need to make sure the existing checklists are stronger and that everybody understands that there is one way it’s going to be done, and that everyone will have to go through exactly the same process.”

Kingrea noted that the city is engaged in complex federal litigation involving claims of unequal treatment by some local developers. That case brought by the owners of the so-called “Dyas triangle” on U.S. 98 across from the new Publix Super Market and shopping center is set for trial in May. Numerous depositions have been taken of city officials and staff last year

Also, the opening of the 54,000-square-foot Publix this summer was a heralded event, but it also came with allegations that clean water laws were violated during its construction, when muddy water ran off the site several times in 2008 and 2009 following heavy rains, and allegedly entered Fly Creek and adjacent wetlands. A site manager of the general contractor of the project entered two guilty pleas for local ordinance violations. That company has since declared bankruptcy. And in September, the owner of the shopping center development was fined 11,000 and ordered to clean up the adjacent wetlands by the state environmental agency.

The alleged environmental problems at the Publix shopping center and the pending federal litigation have been a frequent refrain by some activists during the past year who have complained that the city has not been as responsive as it should have been regarding those issues. In a related development, a class action lawsuit was filed regarding that shopping center project and how it was handled by the city in December.

So, while the past year saw a number of controversies and some growing pains in how city government operates, all three council members reached for comment this week agreed that things should should run smoother in the city in 2010, and partly because of the changes made in city government last year.

“I don’t see any major hurdles out there,” Mixon said. “We want to continue saving money. Our ultimate goal is to continue reducing what we transfer from utilities into the general so that we can build up the city’s utilities infrastructure. I am very pleased with where we are. We’ve been working diligently to have harmonious relationships with the mayor, and he and I meet once a week to talk about things that are coming up.”