At it's Aug. 21st work session, the Gulf Shores City Council discussed the purchase of an aircraft rescue and firefighting apparatus mostly funded by an FAA grant.

The grant is for just more than $1 million and the city budgeted $50,000 for matching funds. The actual matching funds when the grant was approved was $58,947 and the airport authority is asking the council to cover the additional costs.

During the meeting the Council also considered amending the bid award for the beach renourishment project in Gulf Shores, Gulf State Park and Orange Beach to cover the $1.1 million for mobilization and then removing the equipment. According to Brandan Franklin, Chief Building Official, Gulf Shores portion of the $32.7 million project was initially thought to be $17.1 million, but the new charges will up the city’s portion to $18. 2 million. This was due to the amount of sand each area of the local beach would receive. It was found that Gulf Shores would receive 57% of the sand in the dredging project. Orange Beach will get 31% and the State Park will obtain the remaining amount.

Mr. Franklin also asked the Council to consider fining owners who moved into a structure before a "certificate of Occupancy" had been issued by the city. The fine would start at $1,000 and could rise for multiple violations. The resolution would also allow the electrical services to be disconnected.

Lee Jones, Director of Planning & Community Development, suggested for changes in the "Mixed Use" building codes for the city. One of those changes would be for any parking deck to count as a story in a high-rise building. They did not count in the condotel section of the building codes. This may help reduce the density of future projects.

Grant Brown, Public Information Officer, informed the Council of two event applications. The first was for the National Shrimp Festival the second was the Collegiate Beach Bash volleyball tournament on Oct. 6-7 at Gulf Place. Top sand volleyball teams from around the country are expected to participate.