DAPHNE, Ala. — The Daphne City Council at its work session Monday discussed its intentions for the recently defunct Downtown Redevelopment Authority.

The committee has been inactive since all of its former members submitted a joint letter of resignation in July.

Councilwoman Cathy Barnette — who served as council liaison to the board — cited a collective sense of frustration among board members over a lack of capital provided by the city to support the authority’s proposals.

“We need to determine our intentions for that board,” Barnette said. “It’s not a lack of willingness or desire of the members. It appears that the will of the council is not to utilize (the board). It’s a bigger issue than just people on a board going to meetings.

The authority had requested a portion of the lodging tax be redirected to the board for strategic planning but was denied by the council. Proposed projects included a downtown streetscape and improvements to Bayfront Park.

While discussing how the authority could raise funds for projects, Council President John Lake cited Fairhope’s downtown redevelopment board’s process of taking “small steps,” such as selling bricks to raise capital.

Lake added that he was not in favor of the authority’s targeting a portion of the lodging tax.

“The council needs to give directions as far as what it’s looking for out of this committee,” Councilman Ron Scott said. He agreed that the authority should seek outside funding.

“Either we take it seriously or we don’t,” Councilman Derek Boulware said. “I’d be for us getting back into it.”

“New blood is in order,” Councilman August Palumbo said, adding that he can understand why the authority’s former members resigned out of frustration.

“We’ve given a lot of mixed signals,” Barnette said, referring to how the council would show interest in a project but then never fund it.

“People are not going to be a problem,” she said, of finding new recruits to fill the board. “This isn’t necessarily about the lodging tax. Downtown is the lifeblood of Daphne. It is the central point of our city.”

Scott agreed but said the relationship must be reciprocal.

“They’ve got to bring something to the table,” Scott said. “It can’t be, ‘I want someone else’s dollars’.”

Palumbo said he’d be reluctant to reappoint any former board members.

“They resigned en masse,” he said. “I hope we can get some fresh blood and go from there.”

Lake said he’d like to follow through with the authority’s idea to bury power lines.

Anyone interested in reviving the DRA can contact the city clerk at 621-9000.