FOLEY — It looks like the operation of several Foley events won’t be changing hands in the near future.

During a special-called meeting Friday morning, the Foley City Council denied the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s recent proposal to take over four city-sponsored events in 2013.

Chamber President Donna Watts made the proposal during the council’s regular work session earlier this month. According to her letter of intent, the Chamber would have taken over next year’s presentation of Christmas in the Park, Let it Snow, Flower and Garden Extravaganza and Uptown Halloween, at a combined cost of $25,000. But an additional Chamber staff member would have been hired, adding on an additional $58,000 for that person’s annual salary and additional fees to implement the events and ultimately still budgeted by the city of Foley.

“The city still would have to support them (the events),” Foley City Councilman Rick Blackwell said in an interview after the meeting, citing trash pick-up as one such means of support.

“Those events do not consume a lot of city time,” fellow Foley City Councilman Charlie Ebert said after the meeting, “and staff commented that they actually enjoy planning those events.”

Another reason for voting down the proposal was financially-based.

“The reason for declining that offer was the additional amount of $58,000 to the (city’s) 2013 budget,” Blackwell said.

Instead, the council members believe the city’s own resources can be used to improve the events.

“We feel we can expand our own marketing and advertising, using our present team and do a good job,” Blackwell said. “This move would be less costly to the city.”

“It’s just more cost-effective at this time to keep them in house,” Ebert added.

But, Blackwell explained, those would only be improvements to already successful events.

“Most of the events have had great results,” Blackwell said.

He explained that both Christmas in the Park and Let it Snow attract 3,000-4,000 attendees, while more than 3,000 participants head to downtown Foley for Uptown Halloween.

Blackwell said the city plans to focus more attention to Flower and Garden Extravaganza, which draws between 1,000 and 1,500 attendees, and the combined Farmers’ Market/Music and a Movie, which attracts 300-400 participants.

“This is our intention,” he said.

Although these four events won’t be changing hands, others have done so.

“The Chamber has already assumed the old Heritage Harbor Days Festival,” Ebert said.

This October, the festival will launch under its new name, Alabama Festival of Flavor.

“The Chamber has presented some very exciting ideas for revamping that festival into a food festival that will probably be very successful in attracting people to Foley,” Foley Leisure Tourism Marketing Director LaDonna Hinesley said.

Although Watts wasn’t available for comment following Friday’s decision, her proposal did include specifying that a denial would not adversely affect the relationship between the Chamber and the city of Foley.

“If y’all turn it down, there won’t be any hurt feelings,” Watts told the council during her proposal presentation.

Ebert added that the decision doesn’t sever the two entities’ ties on the events.

“The Chamber has always participated in these events to help make them a success,” he said, “and I’m sure they will continue to do so. We work well together at many levels.”