Orange Beach, Ala. — (OBA) — This September will be the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Sally’s landfall, and the city is still dealing with its aftermath. Officials are seeking a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help get rid of abandoned boats from waterways in the city. This application will apply to three specific boats the city wants to get rid of.

The city council will take up the issue at a joint regular/work session on July 15 at 5 p.m. in council chambers at city hall.

“The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation hurricane response marine debris removal grant is paying for the removal, storage, and disposal of these vessels,” a memo on the council agenda states. “These efforts will benefit emergent, intertidal, and submerged coastal habitats such as salt marshes, beaches, benthic soft-bottoms, and seagrass meadows, which are the priority habitats for marine debris removal and restoration.”

The city has pursued and received similar grants since the storm hit on Sept. 16, 2020. This latest measure will be discussed during the work session and likely voted on at the first council meeting in August.

During the regular session, the council will also:

• Hear a report on goods and services bought by the city from July 3-16 for a total of $1.3 million.
• Have a second reading of a change in the sign ordinance to allow for a new sign at the Oasis of Orange Beach, formerly Phoenix West II.
• Consider a request from The Wharf Landing for a temporary sales trailer at the Margarita build site.
• Discuss a contract to loan the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber two ATVs for the 52nd Annual National Shrimp Festival.
• Consider a contract with Offset Consulting for red-dot pistol instructor training for the police department to train in-house personnel on the use of red-dot sights on handguns.
• Consider accepting a donation from Forensic Pieces of forensic equipment for the police department.
• Discuss awarding a bid for a towfish and sector scanning sonar system to Scuba.com for $34,046.
• Have a public hearing to discuss granting Keel RV Storage a conditional use permit to construct three mini warehouses east of the old Master Joe’s restaurant.

During the work session, the council will discuss:

• Accepting the donation of real property. The agenda gave no further details on where the property is and what it might be used for.
• Replacing 400 pole mounts for Christmas decorations for $259,668 to replace mounts that are more than 10 years old.
• A contract with GeoCon for geotechnical testing and engineering services for Jubilee Point Road improvements for $7,730.
• Establishing fees for a Pre-K Expect Excellence after-school program at $40 per week or $8 a day if there are fewer than five school days in a week.
• Awarding the bids for debris clearance, disposal, and sand reclamation and for monitoring, management, and recovery services. Bids will be opened on July 31, and the current contract expires in August.
• Declaring a speed radar machine owned by the city as surplus and donating it to Elberta.
• A contract with McCollough Architecture for engineering services for improvements to the Hot Shop for $14,400.