SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Spanish Fort city officials are negotiating to build a proposed city complex on Blakeley Way.

Mayor Joe Bonner asked the city council to devise a master plan for the city at a special meeting on Thursday.

However, first priority will be given to developing a senior citizen building.

When the city negotiated money from Cypress Equities, approximately $650,000 was put into a city complex fund, Bonner said.

Bonner said that the past administration had “brokered some square feet” in the Eastern Shore Centre where the Spanish Fort Police Department is now located.

The city made the same pitch to Cypress Equities in regards to the Spanish Fort Town Center, but instead of square feet, a trade off equaling $650,000 could be spent on a city complex, Bonner said. City Councilman Mike McMillan led the negotiations with Cypress Equities, Bonner said.

“With the Highway 31 corridor, it requires a vision for a thirty to forty-year period for the downtown. The city has to lead that crusade,” Bonner said.

The city council will be acquiring proposals from engineers and architects to help the city devise a plan, concept and vision of the new complex, Bonner said.

The proposed facility would be built on the city-owned property of 18 acres on Hwy. 72 and Hwy. 31. Bonner declined to give a start or completion date for the new complex.

The city complex would include city administration offices, court, planning department and other offices.

The post office has even expressed an interest in relocating there, Bonner said. The existing city complex could possibly house a municipal library and a museum, he said.

“I envision a library or museum type atmosphere or both,” Bonner said. The city would depend on volunteers to staff the center. The senior citizen population continuously increases in Spanish Fort, Bonner said, adding that there is a “physical need” for a facility. The senior citizen building here could perhaps have a fitness program and a federally funded lunch program for people who needed it, Bonner said.

“One of our goals is to have a fitness center in our complex,” he said.

There may also be a gathering room with comfortable chairs and a television where people can congregate and talk or read the newspaper, he said. The city council is presently looking at different floor plans. Emphasis will be on building the senior citizen complex first, then city hall, public works and an administration building, Bonner said.

Bonner and City Clerk Mary Lynn Williams recently toured the city of Daphne’s Senior Center. Bonner said that he was impressed with the fact that the fitness center, walking treadmills and bicycles had a steady flow of individuals using the equipment and facility. He said he was also very impressed by the computer room in the Daphne facility.

“They bring in people and teach our citizens basic concepts of a computer system,” he said.

Bonner said he found the Daphne center to be very comfortable, would interest seniors and would allow people to meet their neighbors.

In other council business:

• The council approved the “concept and theory” regarding issuing tax exempt bonds to provide assistance to the Spanish Fort Water System, Inc. The city and Spanish Fort Water Authority will proceed in getting the necessary information together, Bonner said.

The Spanish Fort Water Authority is a separate entity from the city of Spanish Fort, is a co-op type atmosphere and owned by residents of Spanish Fort, Bonner said. Though the Spanish Fort Water System does not have the mechanisms to get tax free bonds, under a new law that came into effect a few years ago, the city can act as a conduit and issue tax exempt bonds to provide assistance.

It will not affect the city’s credit rating, is not computed against the city debt, nor is the city responsible for the debt, Bonner said.

“It is an opportunity to get more bang for the buck and prepare for future water needs of Spanish Fort,” Bonner said.

• The city council gave approval for spending of funds for a proposed landscape vegetative buffer for Spanish Fort Elementary and the athletic fields, and the city will pay half of the cost of $35,890.

• The city council purchased 150 feet of property owned by Kent Mills. The total budget item is $32.500 for the property and $5,000 for closing costs. Bonner said this would allow the city in the future to go from Hwy. 72 across Ember Lane. The property appraisal was $33,000.