FAIRHOPE, Ala. — At Monday’s meeting, the City Council created the position of city administrator and also shifted the power for appointing a number of city jobs, mostly department heads, from the mayor to the council.

“We are just creating the position not hiring anybody,” said Council President Debbie Quinn, referring to the city administrator job.

The city administrator will direct and manage the operations of the city under the direction of the mayor, to include management and oversight of all city departments, functions and coordination of special projects, according to the new ordinance.

“I believe that in order for the (city) to continue to have a high-quality of life, it is time to hire a city administrator,” Councilman Lonnie Mixon read from a statement at the Feb. 26 council meeting when the ordinance was introduced. “We have become a complex organization and, as such, we now need a professional administrator to coordinate the daily operations of the city.”

The ordinance passed 4-1, with Councilman Mike Ford voting against.

“I don’t think we need to add anyone to the city (staff),” Ford said. “We’ve got to make sure the mayor still has something to do.”

Mixon’s statement at the Feb. 26 meeting also said, “This will leave more time for the mayor to focus on other city responsibilities such as working with county, state and federal legislatures on behalf of the city, forging new relationships with constituents, attending committee meetings (that is, long-range and strategic planning, finance and budget, city growth and annexation, and recreation just to name a few), as well as attending civic and social functions, and working with other elected officials as they develop policies.”

The ordinance sets out 11 “essential functions” for the new position, as well as minimum qualifications, performance aptitudes and other requirements.

The council also passed an ordinance that establishes the council as the appointing authority for a number of city jobs.

“The (council) believes that it is in the best interest of the city to remove the appointing authority for certain employment positions from the mayor and to designate the (council) as the appointing authority for such employees,” the ordinance states.

The ordinance replaces one recently passed by the council, after it was reviewed by the city’s personnel attorney, Quinn said.

The current ordinance has the council hire more than two dozen top city jobs but delegates to the mayor the authority to discipline and dismiss them. Employees can appeal the mayor’s decision to the council.

“This is the same thing they did in Daphne,” Ford said. “Then they rescinded it two years later.

Ford said the new ordinance makes the council as a body and its members individually subject to employee lawsuits.

“I didn’t get on this council 25 years ago to be a personnel manager,” he said.

The new law provides that the council is the appointing authority for the following positions (several of which are currently vacant): assistant city clerk, assistant chief of police, utilities superintendent, city administrator, assistant city administrator, administrative assistant, general superintendent, administrative superintendent, planning director, city engineer, purchasing director, senior services director, public works director, human resource director, personnel director, maintenance director, building official, recreation/youth director, revenue director, finance director, audit director, manager of business accounts, golf director, and superintendents of all utility departments (for example, electric, water/sewer and gas).

In other business, the council:

• Accepted a proposal from Hancock Bank to refinance the debt from a 1999 general obligation bond in the amount of $3.5 million.

“We sent requests for proposals to 19 financial institutions,” City Treasurer Nancy Wilson said. “We had a fairly good response. We clearly preferred to refinance on the same terms instead of getting a cash advance. So, we will see the savings monthly.”

Wilson said the terms involve a fixed rate of 3.62 percent and will result in savings of approximately $218,000.

Wilson said the responses regarding a 1999 utility bond were not acceptable, and the council took no action to refinance that debt.

• Heard a report from Councilman Dan Stankoski, who has chaired a committee to select a new police chief, regarding the status of the job search. He said the application period closed March 6. “We had 116 applicants. The committee will meet (Tuesday, March 10) and will take a look at what we have. I understand there are some highly qualified applicants.”

•Agreed to donate $1,500 to the Eastern Shore Optimist Club to support a fundraising effort to send the Dogwood Trail maids to the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. this year.

• Heard a report from the Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board on its recent activities, which included the presentation of a new brochure on the city’s gully system.

“The reason for the brochure was to understand how they work and emphasize their importance as a stormwater conveyance system,” said FEAB member Ron Heveran, who chaired the brochure committee. “We hope they will have some impact.”

Heveran said the brochures are available at City Hall, the Public Works Department and the Fairhope Single Tax Corp., which funded the printing of 1,000 copies.

“It’s a great brochure,” Quinn said. “It’s very well done.”