The Foley City Council approved a $200 sponsorship of the Foley High School  softball team. The expenditure was not budgeted, but the council felt the support was well-deserved. The sponsorship will provide the city with an opportunity to advertise at all the softball games held at Foley High School this season.

A request from the Chamber of Commerce to hold its annual three-day Hot Air Balloon Festival at the Foley Sportsplex on June 17, 18 and 19 was approved by the council.  A special events retail liquor licenses to allow alcohol to be sold during the events in areas not typically designated for the sale of alcohol, was also approved.

The council denied a request from Keith Honeycutt to vacate a 20 foot alley running near his property. Honeycutt has encountered drainage issues and hoped he could use the additional property to remedy the situation. Foley city engineer Butch Stokes advised against the city vacating the property because there are utility lines running through the property. Stokes thought the city could run into some trouble later down the road if the property was no longer under the city’s control.

Foley Police Chief David Wilson approached the council this week to get permission to alter the agreement the council previously agreed on regarding emergency medical transportation for prisoners. Wilson worked out a deal with MedStar which will cost the city $6,000 a year for unlimited transportation of prisoners. Wilson’s original proposal was more expensive, but included transportation of officers injured on duty as well. After further investigation it was found officers injured while on duty would be covered by workman’s compensation, so the officers were left out of the deal with MedStar. Wilson is confident the agreement with MedStar will save the city money each year since one trip in an ambulance has become rather pricey.

The city council also decided to forego the offer to acquire a model town and train set from a resident. At the last council meeting the council decided to pursue the offer if a storage solution could be found. After further consideration, the council decided the set was too large for the city to store and display at this time.

The city will also purchase two new sets of transportable bleachers for $10,142 each. The council accepted the lowest responsible bid this week.