FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The city of Fairhope has made an offer to purchase approximately 40 acres of land for additional recreational ball fields several miles east of Greeno Road near the public high and middle schools.

The property is located at the corner of County Road 13 and Manley Road, a few miles southeast from where other recreational fields are located at Founder’s Park just east of Fairhope High School, which faces Greeno Road.

“We made a verbal offer,” Councilman Mike Ford said Thursday. “I called the man yesterday and confirmed it again, and called him Friday and confirmed it.”

The City Council appointed Ford, who is the council’s longtime liaison on the city’s Recreation Board, and Mayor Tim Kant to negotiate the purchase of the property earlier this year, following an executive session at a council meeting that came after a March 25 e-mail sent to Kant and council members by Ford.

“John Baker called me yesterday and said Mr. Ruffin Graham had talked to him about our purchase of the 40 acres on the (southeast) corner of CR 13 and Manley Road,” the note sent from Ford’s real estate company e-mail address stated. “John, who is a member of our Recreation Board, said they would like a letter stating our intention, or a formal offer to purchase setting our price, terms, etc. Their group like many others, are afraid that Obama will erase the capital gains laws.”

Ruffin Graham III, who is the incorporator of RJG Real Estate and Development Inc. in Mobile, according to state records, did not immediately return a call for comment by press time.

Ford would not disclose the offering price, other than to state that he had negotiated a good financial deal for the city.

“You don’t want to tell too much before you get the deal done, because I’ve seen it happen that someone else comes in there and says I’ll give you what you really wanted,” Ford said. “They were going to take it off the market if we didn’t come back. I didn’t want to say anything (publicly), because the property was really not for sale.”

Ford said the city has a “gentleman’s agreement” with Graham, instead of a written offer at this time, for reasons he would not state on the record.

If the deal goes through, the land will be purchased partially with approximately $400,000 in bond funds remaining that are dedicated to recreation department projects, Kant said Monday.

“We do not want to pay for it out of impact fees,” said Ford last week, but Kant indicated Monday those funds might also be used for the purchase.

The city treasurer said there is about $350,000 in the impact fee fund that is dedicated for parks and recreation that would be available for such a purpose of property.

Kant also said he had been looking for other recreational field property located closer to the downtown area, or not as far removed from existing ball fields, but without success to date.

Several recreational fields located south of town in Barnwell are not frequently used, Ford said, and a church softball league decided not to use them and moved the league to Daphne last year.

“We probably underestimated a little bit the reluctance of people to drive out there, but you’ve got to understand to some extent our recreational fields involves our school district,” he said. “And, at that time, we couldn’t get any more land, and we knew we needed to have some.”

Ford said those Barnwell fields are used for practice, in order not to “chew up” the ones at Founder’s Park.

”I venture to say the (church league) will be moving back soon,” he said. “We’ve got a forward look for recreation, and we’re always looking to the future with the growth that will surely come back again.”

Although state laws allow executive sessions to discuss the negotiation process of land purchases in private, final purchase prices and other financial arrangements must be disclosed in open meetings of the council. The next council meeting is Sept. 28.