SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Right-of-way discussions dominated the City Council’s work session Monday as independent counsel Shawn Alves unveiled a work-in-progress revamping of Spanish Fort’s existing ordinance.

Alves, with Stone Granade and Crosby PC in Bay Minette, is advising the city on the matter.

Alves said the majority of the changes involve Section 3 of the existing ordinance and strengthen language that should hold contractors more accountable for the conditions in which they leave city land following improvement projects.

In preparing the rough draft, Alves said he reviewed the city’s franchise agreements as well as the 12-year-old right of way ordinance, and said it should require emergency response plans and certainly require anyone seeking to perform work to provide engineer-approved drawings in order to receive permits. It also “beefs up” the existing penalty structure that only charges those found in violation of the existing ordinance $50 per day.

Five hundred dollars per day is more in line with fines of this variety, he said, and should serve as a healthy deterrent.

Specifically, the proposed changes require contractors performing work in the pubic rights of way to replace and restore conditions to pre-project conditions.

“It will require sod to be placed down even if it wasn’t there before, and if multiple parties are performing work, it requires them to come up with a coordinated plan,” Alves said.

Alves said the revised language also requires parties to guarantee the work they perform for no less than 24 months.

The revamped ordinance also requires contractors to use the “least disruptive technologies” possible and dictates full compliance with all state and federal guidelines.

Alves also strengthened the existing language to require “detailed drawings stamped by an engineer” rather than leaving it to the discretion of the building inspector, as the ordinance now reads.

“You don’t want to make it financially impossible for people to do repairs,” Alves said, noting that stronger controls need to be included for improvements.

In addition, as-built drawings would be required within 30 days of a project’s completion and the penalty for violating the ordinance would increase to $500 per day following proper notification.

“(These fines) are not revenue generators but a mechanism to get (problems) resolved,” he said.

Several council members objected, however, to the imposition of such a strict fine on individuals as opposed to businesses found in violation of the ordinance, and Alves said those figures could certainly be evaluated to ensure equity.

District 1 Councilman Dennis Dismuke also noted that while this particular ordinance might not be the appropriate vehicle for the action, he would like to see the city adopt stricter backfilling guidelines to minimize the potential for infrastructure issues down the road.

District 4 Councilman Tom Sawyer also wants the language amended to hold companies responsible for any damages to right-of-way property in the process of operating equipment, even if the project, itself, such as running overhead electrical lines is not by definition subject to the right-of-way ordinance.

In other business the council:

The next regular meeting of the council will begin with a 5 p.m. work session in the conference room at City Hall on Jan. 4, followed immediately by the regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the Gathering Place in the Prodisee Center.