ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - Tonight the City Council will discuss allowing Outcast Charter Docks to add a fuel system to its docks, a topic that brought more than an hour of discussion during a regular meeting on Feb. 5.

Outcast moved from the west side of Perdido Pass to its current location on the western end of the Caribe resort property in July of 2010. The company first applied to add the fuel docks on Dec. 28.

The property is part of the Caribe planned unit development between Cobalt restaurant and the western tower of the Caribe Condominiums. Prior to becoming Outcast Charters Dock in 2010, the site was a construction laydown area.

Several residents and a marina owner spoke out against allowing fueling at the docks and cited fears of a spill in the swift current that flows past the docks daily in and out of Perdido Pass. They also pointed out language in the original agreement that said “they would not have fuel sales at the marina,” according to a memo to the council from the Planning Department.

“I have spent quite some time listening to every single meeting about it and it was crystal clear that fueling would not be allowed,” Patti Link, operator of SanRoc Cay and Bear Point marinas, said. “That the letter they sent was even discussed in the meeting and that it made no difference. There would not be any fueling and there was no misunderstanding.”

But, the same memo also said Outcast “reserved the right to apply for a fuel permit in the future.”

Mayor Tony Kennon said the concerns he raised at the time were not about a fuel system but the possibility of portable fuel carts being used at the marina.

There are 150-plus slips at Outcast and Caribe Marina combined, Neil Trimble, one of the operators of Outcast told the council.

“My position is never say never,” Kennon said. “When that marina’s filled out where will those boats go and will that just be as great a potential for spills if he goes to another marina as it is to do it there?

“Somebody needs to give me legitimate answers to as to why I should say no. I need to make sure you make me understand that fueling at that dock is any less safe than any other dock. And if there are precautions they are adequate enough that it compensates for that issue.”

Trimble said the system the marina is proposing to have installed would be state of the art with a double-lined tank and safeguards that would allow no more than one liter of fuel to escape in case of a hose rupture. The council was given a handout detailing nine safeguards for the system at Outcast if it is approved.

Councilwoman Joni Blalock lives on Cotton Bayou where there are three fueling stations for boats. There is also a popular boat launch at the head of Cotton Bayou and residents there have been calling for a new launch to relieve pressure on their waterfronts.

“I don’t know what Zeke’s has and I don’t know what Romar Marina has, but if they have the same system, and I assume that they do, I still have gasoline all over my access beach every summer all summer long,” she said. “And you can call all day long and they don’t do anything. The stench is overwhelming. It happens all the time. You cannot take care of human error with that system. That is my concern.”

Kennon said the city is aware of residents’ concerns along Cotton Bayou.

“Those boats will end up in Cotton Bayou fueling where we want less boats and less fuel dispensed,” he said.

Councilman Jeff Boyd said the no matter what system in place, the final hand to touch the fuel line is the boater’s.

“They don’t get on the boats,” Boyd said of marina workers. “They hand the nozzle off to the boater and he does it.  You can train all you want but it still comes down the person holding the nozzle.”

The meeting is at 5 p.m. in council chambers on Orange Beach Boulevard.