At the Aug. 27 City Council meeting, SouthCoast Segway and the Fairhope French Quarter Merchant Association, requested the council give permission for Segway Tours to be offered from the French Quarter area.

“We’ve been giving tours around the Grand Hotel since around the Fourth of July,” William M. Koberg, with SouthCoast Segway, said.

Segway PTs are legal to use inside buildings as a personal transport device, he said, adding that many returning veterans from the Iraq war who were injured during their service are using Segways. However, the personal transport device is also popular for tours in areas like Chicago and the West Coast.

“This is a great way to get around and see the things a city like Fairhope has to offer,” he said.

“Grand Hotel guests have said it would be great if they could tour Fairhope on a Segway tour as they have toured around the hotel grounds,” he said.

Ann Mero, who assisted in the presentation, said they wanted to offer guided tours on Segway PTs using trained guides who are well-versed in the use of the equipment as well as the history of the town.

“We take safety seriously,” said Mero. “Everyone must wear a helmet and sign a release form.”

Mero and Koberg wanted the city to assist them in developing routes and timetables “that are best for the city,” if the council approves the request.

Koberg said the company would charge a fee for the one- or two-hour tours. Participants per tour would be between 4 and 6, he said, with a minimum age for riders of 12 or 14.

Koberg said they were starting tours in New Orleans in a couple of weeks.

The council referred them to the City Downtown Committee for further development.

In other action, the council:

• Heard a presentation by Jim Byrd, chairman of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce Business Survey Task Force, giving results from the survey of 30 business leaders to questions about work force, expansion plans, city and county services and other topics.

Participants submitted their surveys anonymously to the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance where it was entered into a special software program and integrated with data collected from other chambers in Baldwin County and across the state. Byrd listed some of the key findings of the survey.

74 percent of the businesses surveyed on the Eastern Shore have existing plans for expansion within the next 36 months.

On a scale low-to-high of 1 to 7, employers rate the availability of workers on the Eastern Shore as 3.35; quality of workers, 4.39; and stability of workers, 4.57.

Most frequently listed strengths of the Eastern Shore as a place to do business were quality of life, location and demographics. The most frequently listed weaknesses were affordable housing, availability of workers, coordinated intergovernmental planning cooperation, land, building and construction costs, and transportation and transit problems.

• Heard a presentation by Dr. John Meyer, president of Fairhope Garden Club, who outlined the club’s goals for the upcoming year. He said the Fairhope club was the largest garden club in southern Alabama. The club will “encourage young people to become involved in horticulture and instill in them an appreciation for the lovely green environment in their Fairhope community.”

He said the club plans on offering contests with cash prizes for elementary, middle and high school students several times during the year beginning in 2008. The contests, he said “will be to design and plant, with explanations for their choices of plantings, flower containers, which will be located on the east side of the new historical museum.”

The club, he said, has enhanced its scholarship program. In 2008, Fairhope Garden Club will offer two horticultural or botany scholarships, one for attending a community college and another for attending a four-year college or university of the recipient’s choice. In the past, the club offered one scholarship annually to a student attending Auburn University.

• Approved an ordinance to renew the library bridge loan (general obligation Warrant Series 2007). Debbie Quinn said the city had borrowed $1,290,000 for one year as a bridge loan for the new library project. She asked that the loan be renewed for another year.

Council President Bob Gentle said it would take $1,458,000 to completely pay off this debt right now. The library currently has $427,600 in uncollected pledges. Quinn said the new library board was planning some fund-raisers.

“I was noted for voting against any increase, as we went along, I voted against them,” said Councilman Mike Ford, “but now it’s an accomplished fact and our credit’s on the line. A lot of people had predicted this at the beginning, that it would end up leaving this for the city, and we’ve got to cover it. I’m just clarifying my position,” Ford said.

“That’s a very nice I told you so,” said Councilman Cecil Christenberry, “Let’s vote.”

• Authorized Mayor Tim Kant to execute an agreement between the city and Hutchinson, Moore & Rauch LLC to conduct environmental consulting services to maintain compliance with the conditions of the MS4 permit.

• Authorized the mayor to execute Amendment 2 to the natural gas purchase and sales agreement dated April 1, 2002 between the city and BP Energy Co., formerly Prior Energy Corp.

• Authorized the mayor to accept the $38,000 subgrant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs from the FY 2006 Land and Water Conservation Fund program for construction of the Fairhope Skate Plaza.

• Authorized the mayor to execute an agreement between the city and Gillis Construction Inc. for $38,080 for improvements to Gayfer Avenue.

• Approved a resolution to accept the public streets, public rights of way and all city utilities within Fairfield Unit VI subdivision for maintenance.

• Approved an application for a special retail license by William Boyd Little, doing business as Oak Hollow Farm Inc., located at 14210 Greeno Road for the annual Rileigh and Raylee Foundation Angel Ride fund-raiser.

• Heard a report from Larry Thomas, Fairhope Single Tax Corp. president, on the old jail/city museum.

• Approved a request from Joe Birindelli that the city sponsor the 2007 Veterans Day Parade, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 10, 2 p.m. with the same parade route as last year.

• Referred a request from Joe Overstreet that the city set up a review panel to hear residents’ complaints. The council asked City Attorney Tut Wynne to do some research on this and procedures that are, according to Overstreet, in place in Mobile.

• Approved a request to enable the city to go to state bid for certain items when it is in the best interests of the city.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Rose Fogarty, financial reporting manager, provided council members with a summary financial report for fiscal year 2007 through July 31.

In the General Fund, revenues and expenses were both up from last year’s report for the same time period. Revenues including utility transfers was $17,594,928 compared to $14,883,965 in 2006. Expenses to date total $17,267,421 while last year they were $15,297.061. Fogarty said they were projecting the General Fund net revenue at the end of the year to be about $200,000. Net earnings to date by utility are: Gas fund, $972,703; Electric fund, $893,359; Water/Sewer fund, $727,931; and Golf fund, $8,069.

Net earnings to date from all funds is $2,929,569 with revenues of $45,613.775; expenses, $42,684,206.

Cash balance on hand is up over last year by a little more than $1 million: $7,036,506. This balance does not include sinking funds and warrant funds, which total more than $6.4 million.

City treasurer said the city’s “cash” situation was looking better than it has in the past few months. She reported the cash balance as of July 31 less the sinking and warrants funds as $7,036,506. This is slightly down from last year when the cash balance was $7,623,886.