SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Dropped cell phone calls on the causeway may be a thing of the past if the City Council decides to rezone property to allow AT&T Mobility to erect a 180-foot telecommunications tower.

Monday’s meeting included the request for rezoning property at 1595 Battleship Parkway from R-1 — low density residential district — to T-1 — telecommunication district. The planning commission at its Aug. 11 meeting had given a negative recommendation to rezone this property.

A public hearing is set for the Oct. 6 meeting to discuss rezoning of this property to allow for a monopole tower to be placed at this location.

The decision on whether to erect the tower could be only two weeks away.

During a work session Monday the council was joined by Andrew Rotenstreich, a Birmingham-based attorney representing AT&T,  to discuss plans for the tower, which would locate near an old Exxon station.

AT&T representatives sought input from the council before the Oct. 6 meeting.

Currently, there is a 60-foot “cell on wheels” — which provides temporary coverage — at the proposed location, however, the temporary tower does not give as good of services as a permanent one would, Rotenstreich said.

A new tower would give additional in-vehicle coverage for at least a 5-mile radius, Rotenstreich has said.

Without the temporary tower AT&T users cannot connect in certain spots across the bayway and causeway, Rotenstreich said.

City officials expressed concerns about the looks of a 180-foot tower that will sit next to a 17-foot platform to protect the equipment in this flood-prone area.

“I personally am not offended by it,” Councilwoman Wanda Finch said, looking at a photo of what the tower will look like.

“I don’t think it looks that bad.

“When I need my phone I like to have it.”

Finch also discussed her need to have the tower in a place with good cellular service in case one of her family members runs into car trouble.

Councilman Mike McMillan said he feels the tower could be in a better location, and said the property could be put to better use.

“If we do this it will be there forever,” McMillan said. “We need to be careful or we will never be able to achieve our proposed comprehensive plan.”

City leaders asked to see other options — such as camouflaging it to appear as a palm or pine tree — to try to make the tower look better. Rotenstreich indicated he would provide images of such alternatives at a later date.

At an Aug. 11 meeting, Planning Commission Chairman Carl Nelson, Vice Chairman Bernard Davis, J.R. Smith, Kevin Diamond and Tom Montgomery voted against rezoning the property to accommodate the tower, due to the proposed location. Planners said this is a location for fishing and a tower would leave a negative mark on aesthetics.

Also Monday:

Also at the meeting, residents took advantage of the public participation portion and  aired their concerns on improvements.

They expressed concerned about sidewalks lain in Patrician Drive backyards — sidewalks, they said, that were news to them upon discovery.

Bonner said ALDOT — not the city —  decides rights of way.

“They are not obliged to get our permission,” Bonner said.

City officials said the Trailblazers project — a countywide effort to get more trails for those who want to bike, hike or jog — has been going on for more the last three years and has been discussed on the council since then.

“The sidewalk has been a very desirable project throughout the county,” Finch said.

The City Council will have a special work session at 7 a.m. Friday at City Hall to further discuss the city’s budget for the new year, which begins Oct. 1.

The next regularly scheduled council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 at The Gathering Place — located at the intersection of highways 90 and 98 — in the Rite Aid shopping center.