SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Comments made by District 1 Councilman Dennis Dismuke brought Monday’s regular City Council meeting to an abrupt halt, when he announced he is seeking independent legal counsel regarding the city’s handling of its franchise agreement with Baldwin County Sewer Service LLC.

Dismuke said the issue has the “potential to affect the health and safety” of his constituents, prompting his action.

The councilman proceeded to begin reading a letter drafted to members of the council, noting he has been “verbally attacked, ridiculed, marginalized and ignored” during discussions of the matter over the past 18 months, but Mayor Joe Bonner interrupted the exchange several paragraphs into the recitation.

Bonner said reading ahead he saw references to information discussed during executive sessions that are not intended for public discussion.

Acting City Attorney Shawn Alves confirmed discussion of the material violates attorney-client privilege, and that Monday’s public meeting was not the appropriate venue to air the concerns.

Bonner also questioned Dismuke’s use of his position as a council member as a platform for the complaint, questioning whether the comments should be made as a private citizen instead.

“Any of us have the right to personally do something,” Bonner said, imploring Dismuke to differentiate between his role as a council member and as a private citizen in addressing the matter.

Alves indicated the appropriate time for the complaint to be raised publicly would be during the “public participation” portion of the meeting which had already passed. The next opportunity for Dismuke to take that avenue would come during the July 19 meeting.

When Dismuke continued speaking, Bonner called the councilman out of order, citing the intent to “protect the city” should legal action ensue.

Dismuke said he “completely disagree(d) with that approach” at which point Bonner called him out of order a second time, and a motion to adjourn the meeting passed.

For complete coverage of the issue as it continues to unfold, please see the July 14 issue of the Spanish Fort Sun.

Prior to the explosive conclusion to Monday’s meeting, heated discussion of dueling plans to construct a cell phone tower on the Causeway dominated discussions, but consideration of the item that will determine the project’s fate was postponed until the July 19 meeting, pending District 3 Councilman Joe Thomas’ discharge for the hospital.

During the public participation portion of the meeting, however, Buddy Tucker made his first appearance before the council since the issue of his property at the site of the former WLVV radio station for that purpose was introduced in October.

Tucker, whose Buddy Tucker Association Inc. operates a series of evangelical stations, said he felt compelled to set the record straight regarding the handling of the property and his decision to move forward with construction of a cell phone tower even though that was not his original intent in purchasing the property.

“In no way did we undermine Archangel in the purchase of the property on the Causeway,” Tucker said.

The issue is before the council because tower developer Lester Boihem is petitioning for a zoning change for a nearby parcel of property that would allow him to construct the Causeway tower. The council has stated repeatedly it will not allow the construction of more than one tower, and Tucker’s property is currently the only parcel residing in the necessary T-1, or telecommunications district, for that use.

Tucker contends he was not aware of the zoning change prior to his purchase of the property last fall, but once he learned of the change, he employed the services of Johnson Communications to proceed with the project. Boihem had already been granted the telecommunications rezoning for that property and received site plan approval for the project before it was discovered clear ownership of the property had never been established.

Since Tucker purchased the property in September, however, Johnson Communications has not yet been able to secure carriers for the proposed tower, prompting the Planning Commission to forward a negative recommendation to the City Council for approval of the site plan.

Boihem, meanwhile, has signed contracts from at least two carriers, should he be granted permission to build on the alternate site.

Johnson Communications’ Mike Johnson said his interpretation of the zoning regulations does not require a signed carrier contract to proceed, only that he prove the need for the service. Building Official Bruce Renkert noted, however, that the Planning Commission interprets the committed participation of a carrier as the “justification requirement” spelled out in the zoning regulations, and that’s why the body has not approved Tucker’s site plan to date.

District 5 Councilwoman Mary Brabner also noted that Tucker’s rezoning will revert to its original R-1, or residential status, in September if construction of the tower does not proceed immediately, and the council is caught in a “tug of war” between the two developers essentially being held hostage by the carriers involved.

In  other business the council:

*Renewed Advanced Disposal Services’ contract with the city for the collection and disposal of residential refuse and recyclable materials collection.

*Postponed at Bonner’s recommendation consideration of an ordinance governing rental and occupancy standards for single-family dwelling units until the July 19 meeting, allowing for continued comments from the council and the anticipated return of Thomas to the public meetings.

*Approved an ordinance  requiring concrete pipe to be used in state rights-of-way for all stormwater sewer installations as well as an easements in the city limits.

*Authorized Bonner to execute a budgeted contract in the amount of $19,500 between the city and the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce to advertise and promote the city.

*Approved a resolution creating a dispatch position as the city moves toward amicably severing its police dispatch arrangement with the city of Daphne. A subsequent vote set the employee pay classification for the position.

The next regular meeting of the council will begin with a 5 p.m. work session in the conference room at City Hall on July 19, followed immediately by the regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the Gathering Place in the Prodisee Center.