Gulf Shores considers $14 million bond issue

Originally published by the Mobile Press Register

Council debates buying Intracoastal Waterway property or funding new justice center

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
By RYAN DEZEMBERStaff Reporter

GULF SHORES -- With a host of property acquisitions and capital projects slated for the coming months, the City Council is considering selling $14 million worth of bonds in January.

A draft of the plan to spend the $14 million includes 13 items, from a possible purchase of $5.5 million worth of waterfront along the Intracoastal Waterway to $125,000 to begin designing a justice center -- a facility that would combine a police station, jail and court.

The council has committed to some of the items, including work to expand seating at the Sportsplex, which will cost an estimated $711,000; the $1.2 million purchase of two office buildings across the street from City Hall and the $220,000 renovation of a Fort Morgan Road house the city bought to turn into a new Fire Station No. 3.

The city is also on the hook to provide matching funds on projects such as the new Fire Station No. 1 and community storm shelter near Jack Edwards Airport and a state-of-the-art tennis complex at Meyer Park.

Up for debate is whether Gulf Shores should spend $5.5 million to acquire about 375 feet of waterfront along the Intracoastal Waterway's southern shore, where a park and eventual ferry landing are envisioned, or put that money toward building much-needed new facilities for municipal law enforcement.

Mayor G.W. "Billy" Duke III proposed a reshuffling of city offices to stave off the immediate need to build a new justice center, which city officials are guessing could cost anywhere between $8 million and $12 million to build.

He said, for example, that the Community Development Department will likely move into the second floor of one of the two new buildings and the Police Department's investigators and administration could take the upper level of the other building.

The court magistrate, now housed in a trailer behind City Hall, could move into the former Community Development Department offices and use the Adult Activity Center as a courtroom.

The Adult Activity Center could then be moved into the ground floor of one of the new buildings in the space that used to hold the Gulf Shores Bistro & Bakery.

"That gives us probably three to four to five years where we can see where we're going to be," Duke said.

Eventually, the mayor said, the city could build a justice center north of the Intracoastal Waterway where land is cheaper and more plentiful and the risks of catastrophic storm damage are lower.

"What the mayor is talking about could be a short-term solution," Police Chief Arthur Bourne said. "But we've still got to deal with the jail capacity, which is very, very limited."

Bourne said the current jail can hold up to 26 inmates, which is enough space for part of the year, but not enough during busy months.

Bourne urged the council to consider starting at least the designing of a new facility to solve overcrowding at the police station that he said will only get worse.

"Our training room has been turned into offices, we have no space in that facility for classrooms," Bourne said. "We have no more space for anybody. In fact, two investigators that we just hired are going to have to share an office and that's the last one we have."

Deputy Police Chief Fred Beaman said that the department employs 53 people and will add five more in the coming months.

Council members decided Monday to hold off any decisions until they find out how much it will cost to build a justice centere.

Gulf Shores officials are debating whether to include money to build a justice center, which would include a police station, court and jail, in a bond issue slated for January. The current police station, which includes room for 26 prisoners and has no extra offices for new employees, is overcrowded, Police Chief Arthur Bourne said.

BOND ISSUE PROJECTS

The Gulf Shores City Council is contemplating a $14 million bond issue to fund a host of projects and property acquisitions.

Following is a list of those items and their expected costs, some of which city officials said they may choose to eliminate or replace with other projects. City officials said Gulf Shores is committed to those marked with asterisks.

$5.5 million to purchase two tracts with a combined 375 feet along the southern shore of the Intracoastal Waterway.
$1.4 million to build a community storm shelter.*
$1.3 million to complete a new Fire Station No. 1 near Jack Edwards Airport.*
$1.2 million to buy two buildings across the street from City Hall from The Erie Hall Meyer Charitable Fund Inc.*
$1 million to renovate City Hall and the two new buildings.
$415,000 to expand stadium seating at the Sportsplex.*
$300,000 toward construction of a tennis center at Johnnie Sims Park.*
$296,000 to build softball bleachers at the Sportsplex.*
$270,000 to renovate the Adult Activity Center.
$266,500 for drainage work on Fifth Street.
$220,000 to renovate Fire Station No. 3.*
$210,000 for improvements at Meyer Park.*
$125,000 to design a justice center.