BAY MINETTE, Ala. — After months of discussion, the Bay Minette City Council decided not to contract with Alabama Poolworks LLC, opting instead to hire a general manager for the pool and keep it under city control.

The decision came during a special meeting of the council March 14. The council had already asked Alabama Poolworks owner Johnny Gimble to revise the contract during the Feb. 16 regular meeting.

Despite the revisions, District 2 Councilman Mike Phillips still had reservations, seconded by several of the other members. The issue was left on the table during the March 2 regular meeting, to be discussed during the Roundtable meeting scheduled for March 7.

During that meeting, the council discussed several options, from training their own lifeguards to hiring someone to train them or hiring Alabama Poolworks to take care of all the pool issues.

"We have skirted around this pool issue, we need to make a decision today," Mayor Jamie Tillery said. She said they were running into a time issue, because of the pool opening on May 25.

"If we train them ourselves, then we have to train some instructors first," Tillery said. "That's a 23-hour class for certification. It would take a month just to be able to train the lifeguards," she said.

Phillips said he had talked to the Red Cross and a woman named Avery Finch, who trains lifeguards for a living. "She said once they are certified, they are certified for three years," he said.

"She said she offers a training course that is one night and two weekends, and she would do the training here," he said.

He said the main reason he would like to see the city continue to manage the pool is because of the money.

"I still have a problem with the cost," he said.

District 5 Councilman Chris Norman offered a different view of the situation.

"There's two sides.  There's the management side and the service side," he said. "(Gimble) already does the service side, we're just adding the management side. That's where the cost comes from."

Tillery asked Fire Chief Phil Bryars his opinion, because if the city did the training, it would come through the fire department.

"I say if we can get in with someone who can do (the training), do it. If not, contract with someone," he said.

Norman pointed out that Gimble would not be on site managing the pool, that he would hire someone to oversee the pool, the lifeguards and concessions.

"How is that different from us doing that," he asked. "We would have to hire someone, how is it different than a department head."

Another issue was regarding the hiring and training of lifeguards, something Gimble would be doing as part of his contract. Gimble told the council he would hire local as much as he could.

"He has assured us he will use local people if the interest and training is there," Tillery said. While some council members were still concerned about local people being hired, Bryars told them the lifeguard team could not be all locals.

"You're not going to find everyone you need here in Bay Minette," he said. He said Gimble would probably advertise for lifeguards needed and would probably pull from other nearby cities.

"But we could do what he's going to do," Norman said.

Tillery agreed, but said action would need to be taken immediately.

"We need to do this pronto," she said. "Get your man hired because he needs to take this (certification) class with these kids."

All lifeguards will be outfitted with the required Red Cross gear. "We want them in the Red Cross outfits so they are identifiable," Tillery said. "We want to make sure we're covered and that if something happens, Red Cross will stand behind us."

Norman said his other concern was someone with an agenda. "Whoever we hire has got to have the city in mind, not just that neighborhood," he said.

The last item regarding the pool was the daily price charged. The cost to attend the pool for one day will remain at $5 per person per day. However, the charge for those outside the city will be $7.

"We are not penalizing those who don't live here, we're just rewarding those who helped build the pool," Tillery said, referring to the city's taxpayers.

Finally, the council agreed to let the motion to contract with Alabama Poolworks die on the table.

Another action item discussed during the special meeting was the idea of cooperating with the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission on a grant from the Alabama Department of Conservation Resources.

The grant would fund mapping of the city, and a strategic plan for future growth.

"They will do this with our input," Tillery said, noting that she would have had reservations had the Commission opted for dictating how the grant would be used and what the strategic plan would include.

"The entire project will take about 15 months to complete,"  Tillery said. "They will use several tools, including public surveys, public meetings and community workshops."

She said the plan is not only to give the city a direction to go, but an idea of where the city is now.

"When you know where you're at, then you can decided where you want to go," she said.

The only downside to the proposed project is that while the Alabama Department of Conservation Resources would be applying for the grant, if the city agreed to partner with them and the grant was awarded, the city would have to come up with $20,000 matching funds.

However, the city has already contracted with someone to do the mapping, and Tillery said that would be included in the grant, covering what the city would have to pay if it paid for the mapping without the grant.

Tillery said she felt with the economy the way it is, residents would be more in tune to what the city needs, versus what they want.

"We want to get the citizens involved and I think with the economy situation the way it is today we may find they're more open to environmental things, not that we want shopping centers and restaurants, etc." she said.

Additionally she said the council would have input on what was put in the public surveys.

"That way they are not so standardized," she said. "We have unique needs here. What the survey is, we have input on that. The catch is, we have to adopt this resolution now.

"This plan helps us know where to go when this recession ends," she added.

Norman said he liked the idea, but had reservations because a similar plan had been devised years ago and was never put in place.

"The main thing is will we use it," he said. "We can have it done, but will we use it.

"Remember when we did it before, they proposed changes in my district from industrial to more residential," he said. "I have a lot of problems in my district because of the mixed land use."

However, he said he was willing to support the project and the strategic plan.

"Let's just try it out," he said.

District 1 Councilman Danleigh Corbett agreed, and said the council just has to make sure the plan is followed this time.

"Let's just follow through on it," he said.

The council agreed to join with the Commission on the grant.

Though no action by the council was required on the last issue, members had to give their nod of approval.

Irvin and Gena O'Dell, owners of the Corner Market, at U.S.  31 and County Road 112, have requested an off-premise beer license from the Alcohol Beverage Control Board.

Before the ABC Board could approve the license, it had to have a letter from the city stating there was not an issue with the store having that license.

"We don't have to vote on this, (ABC) just has to know  the Council does not have an objection to the license being granted," Tillery said.

After the action items were complete, Tillery adjourned the special meeting and opened the Roundtable discussion. The main topic related to an alliance between the city and the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce to recruit businesses and families.

"I have worked closely with Margo (Allen, Chamber director) and Gail (McInnish, Chairperson) on economic development," Tillery said.

She said the chamber staff has prepared letters and information packets for the council members to take with them to Washington, D.C.

"We have workforce here, we have land available, we want them to think, 'Bay Minette is where we need to go,'" Tillery said.

She said she and the two women have also been working on a plan to host various businesses as far away as Mississippi, give them a tour of the city and promote not only the advantages to having a business here, but living here.

"A lot of people commute," Tillery said. "We want them to look at Bay Minette as a potential place to settle."

She said the idea was to invite the executives of corporations like Thyssenkrup for a meet-and-greet breakfast with the council members and local businesses, then board them on a bus and take them on a tour of the city, ending with lunch.

"We want to promote Bay Minette as a business and living area," she said. "We've got to be proactive."

As another initiative between the chamber and the council, chamber members and staff will be filling in for the council at various functions while the members are in Washington, D.C.