FAIRHOPE, Ala. — On Monday, the City Council passed a resolution establishing a written public records policy for the city.

“We needed one so that everyone would know what we require,” said City Clerk Lisa Hanks. “The resolution was because we don’t currently have a written policy.”

Early last year, Mayor Tim Kant verbally changed the existing written policy following newspaper articles describing the difficulty and high cost of obtaining some city and police department records.

The new oral policy eliminated the cost of a city employee’s time for research and copying of the records and provided the first 25 pages for free. After that, a 25-cent fee per page was charged.

The prior written policy also required that an estimated amount of the total cost, including the employee’s time, had to be paid up front. That requirement was also eliminated by the new oral policy.

“We will not be charging for any employee’s time,” Council President Debbie Quinn said of the new written policy. “This puts it all in writing.”

The new written policy states there will be no charges for the first 20 pages with a 25-cent copying charge per page after that. The policy also states that public records requests will normally be handled within seven working days.

While the new policy eliminates any charge for employee’s time in research or copying, it does provide that a retainer may be required before starting a request for a large volume of information.

Kant said last Tuesday he had initiated the development of the written policy last week following the difficulty this newspaper has had in obtaining certain records from the city’s finance department. A public records request for those documents had been pending since October.

On Jan. 5, the Fairhope Courier received an e-mail from the clerk’s office which included an e-mail from Rose Fogarty, head of the finance department, in which Fogarty stated, “They are not considered public information by (the General Finance Officers Association), nor do I consider them public information.”

The documents were eventually obtained on Jan. 6 after e-mails were sent to the city attorney citing Fogarty’s conclusion. The city attorney told the City Clerk that day that the records were public.

“He didn’t even hesitate,” said Hanks, referring to the city attorney’s determination regarding whether the records were public.

Quinn said the new written policy would be posted on the city’s Web site.

“I hope you’ve had a chance to read this,” Quinn said to the council before the vote, which was unanimous.

The following purpose is given for the new policy:

“Whereas, the purpose of the Open Records Act is to allow the public to monitor the manner in which public officers discharge their public duties. However, not all records are public, such as confidential information, sensitive personnel records, records pertaining to pending criminal investigations and records which if disclosed would be detrimental to the best interests of the public, as well as other categories of information that may not be appropriate for public disclosure.”

In other business, the council:

• Appointed Marion “Tut” Wynne as city attorney for another four-year term.

• Withdrew a resolution that would have appointed an individual as temporary police chief for three months, according to a draft resolution in the packet provided to council members for Monday’s meeting.

“We are pulling the resolution to appoint a temporary police chief,” Quinn said. “Some legalities came up.”

Councilman Mike Ford questioned both why the resolution was withdrawn and why a temporary police chief was being considered.

“I don’t think there’s been a complaint against him in his 25 years,” Ford said, referring to Police Chief Mike Comalander who stood in police uniform in council chambers.

Councilman Dan Stankoski, chairman of a committee to review whether to reappoint Comalander, said the city attorney informed him that some questions of providing insurance for a temporary chief had not been answered and to delay the appointment until they were.

A lengthy and often heated discussion ensued in which Ford questioned the objectivity of Stankoski in chairing the committee, stating that a decision not to reappoint Comalander was made before the review process began.

During that discussion, it was learned that Comalander had submitted a resignation to Kant but it was unclear whether the mayor had accepted the resignation, or if it contained any conditions of other employment in the department. A copy of the resignation letter could not be obtained by press time.

“The police chief did tender a resignation last week, and we’ve been looking for someone,” Quinn said.

Ford responded, “I don’t think the chief would have dared resign unless there was a lot of pressure.”

Quinn said the council would consider the appointment of the police chief position at the next council meeting on Jan. 26.