FAIRHOPE, Ala. — During Monday’s City Council meeting, Gregg Mims, city planning director, gave an update on recent legislation having local impact.

One bill is significant because it would create a stormwater management authority to govern regulations and control for stormwater runoff from construction sites and other sources throughout the county, instead of on a citywide basis as it is currently done, he said.

The bill passed May 31, resulted in a local constitutional amendment, which is to be on the ballot in November 2010 for action by Baldwin County voters, he said.

“They passed this as one of the last bills of the special session,” said David Yeager, director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. “A lot of people said this was a lackluster special session, but I think the Baldwin County delegation deserves great praise for getting this done this year.”

Yeager said that stormwater runoff is the greatest threat to water quality in the country, and that this amendment, if passed by the county in 2010, will offer important environmental protections.

Yeager’s group led efforts during the past few years in support of the legislation, including the creation of a working group comprised of legislators, business leaders and residents to develop the enabling legislation and spearhead a public education campaign regarding the benefits of stronger stormwater runoff protections.

“It took a lot of work and Dave Yeager was one of the prime movers,” said Jim Horner, chairman of the Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board, which also played an active role in supporting the legislation. “This has been a long process and will be a real benefit for this community.”

Yeager said the Baldwin County legislative delegation sponsored the bill and worked hard to see it pass, including working with the business community that was attributed with stopping the passage of the legislation in 2007. He also praised the work of Fairhope officials and residents who played a role in the efforts, including Dick Charles (on the city planning commission), Horner, and Ron Heveran, a FEAB member.

“They helped lead this charge in the working group and county efforts,” Yeager said. “This is a real success story of regional cooperation.”

A stormwater authority is needed because stormwater issues can best be handled on a regional basis instead of a local one, he said.

“Stormwater pollution does not follow political boundaries,” he said.

Horner said that had there been such an authority in place, one that is accountable for stormwater runoff issues throughout the county, the recent stormwater runoff incident at the entrance to Rock Creek subdivision might have been avoided.

“Now we have a ton of red clay in Rock Creek,” Horner said, referring to the runoff from a bank construction site, which flowed down the road and into the nearby creek.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is currently investigating that incident, said spokesman Scott Hughes.

“All of the data from the inspection report is currently being reviewed, but a final decision has not been made concerning any enforcement action,” Hughes said this week. “In the event we do initiate an enforcement action, (the applicant) will be required to submit a copy of their (Best Management Practices) plan and any supporting data to outline how they have corrected the noted problem.”

Repeated requests by the Fairhope Courier for a copy of the BMP plan have met without success from ADEM.

Companies doing construction projects must have a BMP plan in existence and be registered with ADEM but are not required to submit the plan unless problems occur, Hughes said.

Once an investigation that could result in an enforcement action is undertaken, much of the documentation and records in the case are not considered open records available to the public because they are “enforcement sensitive,” he said.

However, the BMP plan itself does not fall within that exemption from the state public records act, an environmental attorney said recently.

During e-mail correspondence with ADEM this week while seeking that BMP plan again, the Fairhope Courier questioned whether it was customary to make an enforcement decision without having the BMP plan in hand, as Hughes indicated ADEM was doing.

“In cases such as these, enforcement decisions are made based upon the information/data that our inspectors gather during their on-site inspection activities,” Hughes said.

In other business, the City Council:

• Heard the a report on the city’s finances for the eight months period ending May 31, 2008. The city financial reporting manager said those financial reports and supporting documents are available at the Fairhope Public Library.