FOLEY — Foley City Council members moved Monday to hire a new city engineer to replace John Gates, who recently left Foley to take a job in Louisiana.

Wendell F. Stokes Jr. will be the city's engineer based on a resolution passed by council. Stokes' annual salary will be $100,000.

Stokes comes to Foley from Mississippi where he was director of Public Works for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Born and raised in Alabama, Stokes has lived in Montgomery, Lafayette and Huntsville. In Huntsville, he served as director of Public Works for the city.

Councilman Charlie Ebert III wasn't present for Monday's council meeting. The resolution to hire Stokes was approved without dissent.

Councilmen moved to suspend the rules at Monday's meeting for immediate adoption of an ordinance prohibiting the discharge of firearms within the city. That ordinance was approved without dissent.

In other council action, all but the minimum fees were waived for the Foley Lions Club Barnes & Bailey Circus event to be held Oct. 5-6 on the vacant lot south of Reynolds Ace Hardware on South McKenzie Street.

Resolutions were approved for applications for two grants. One is through the Alabama Department of Economic and Consumer Affairs (ADECA) for a Law Enforcement/Traffic safety (LETS) grant for $25,000 which involves a 10 percent match by the city ($2,500). The other is a Target & Blue grant for $1,960 through Target for purchase of a saddle and other tack for Foley Police Department's mounted patrol.

A resolution reappointing Michael Dasinger as city prosecutor and Frank Hollin as assistant city prosecutor was approved.

A security system upgrade and expansion for the Justice Center was awarded to CMI Electronics Inc. Their low bid came in over budget at $199,990, but a city consultant recommended acceptance. The budgeted amount was $155,000.

Approval was given for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's request to have their annual MS Bike Ride on Sept. 29-30 to raise money for MS research. The route begins in Orange Beach.