ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The Robertsdale City Council met on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 8 a.m. The first item on the agenda was a discussion of bids for the construction of a new Chamber of Commerce building. The Council received five bids from separate contractors for the construction job. E & J Builders came in with the lowest bid of $365,976. Further price negotiations resulted in a settled bid of $334,432.

Hearing no further inquiries, Mayor Charles Murphy turned the floor over to representatives from the Chamber of Commerce. The newly appointed Executive Director of the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, Marian Mason was in attendance.

She graciously thanked the Council for their support, commenting, “We are very excited about this new building, as you might imagine. Not only for ourselves, but also for the municipality of Robertsdale. We are also thrilled about the possibilities this will present for us and the Central Baldwin region. It will be the first Chamber of Commerce people will see as they’re driving down Highway 59 and that will be huge for us. We are going to give them a reason to stop, instead of just zooming by on their way to the coast. We ask for your support in this, as we feel it will be a tremendous boost to our area.”

In exchange for the their support, the Chamber awarded the Council with a lifetime platinum sponsorship for the City of Robertsdale. After a brief discussion, Council members decided that the clarity of the financial terms of the agreement between the Chamber and the City would best be served if written in contract between the two parties.

Council member Joe Kitchens made a motion to proceed and give Otis Gatlin the authority to move forward with the planning stage of the project. This motion was seconded by Council member Paul Hollingsworth. Hearing no other discussion, Murphy raised the topic for a vote, which the Council favored unanimously. There will be a tentative groundbreaking for the new Chamber building on Friday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m.

With no old business to discuss, the Council moved on to the discussion of new business. The Robertsdale Lady Bears Soccer Team has requested financial assistance. Kitchens motioned to provide $150 to the team. Council member Brent Kendrick supported this motion and seeing no opposition the Council voted unanimously in favor of supporting the Lady Bears with the abstention of Hollingsworth. With no other items on the agenda and no further questions from Council members or those in attendance, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn.