DAPHNE — The City Council on Monday voted 5-0 to approve four resolutions to move forward with grant applications that would create sidewalks within Lake Forest.

Council members Bailey Yelding, Cathy Barnette, Ron Scott, Regina Landry and Council President Greg Burnam voted in favor of the resolutions. Councilman August Palumbo abstained and Councilman John Lake was absent due to work-related business.

Palumbo voiced safety concerns.

“I’m not convinced that putting sidewalks in medians is safe,” he said. “I hope that ALDOT (Alabama Department of Transportation) studies it closely.”

“If you walk the entire thing, it’s like crossing the street 150 times; it might create a false sense of safety,” he added.

“As the project goes forth, I’m sure any safety issues would be addressed,” Barnette said, adding she believes that the sidewalks will have a unifying effect.

“It brings the community back together,” she said.

In other business, the city may be working with other organizations to create a service road that would work with a state-created interchange for Interstate 10. The project would create a service road north of I-10 that would help connect Baldwin County Road 13 and Alabama Highway 181 to the proposed interchange, according to Allen Cox of the TimberCreek development.

The project would include about $35 million in road improvements, according to Cox.

Daphne would pay 3 to 4 percent — around $1 million to $2 million — and would benefit from the improvements as well as see future revenues, Cox said. The county would give $4 million; Cypress Development and TimberCreek each would give $2 million (the latter also would give the land), he said.

Councilman Ron Scott asked what would happen if the interchange wasn’t built.

“I don’t want to build a road leading to the Spanish Fort shopping center,” he said, referring to the Town Center.

“Without the guarantee of the interchange, the service road won’t be built,” Cox said.

Cox said it could be 15 to18 months before a decision could made on the project.

Also on Monday, the council adopted the 2008 fiscal operating budget with a vote of 5-1.

The operational budget is about $17 million, of which $13 million is for personnel.

Changes were made to the budget to reflect the 9 percent cuts requested by the City Council members during a special meeting on Sept. 24. About $360,000 needed to be cut from the operational budget. Those funds will go into the capital budget, increasing it to over $1 million, according to Scott.

Council members Yelding, Scott, Landry, Palumbo and Burnam voted for the budget. Barnette cast the lone dissenting vote. Although absent, during Thursday’s work session, Lake said he would support the proposed budget.