FAIRHOPE — The City of Fairhope will enact a new way of posting legal notices within city limits.

Fairhope City Council passed an ordinance during its meeting Monday, Oct. 12, that would replace legal postings published in newspapers with posting them at certain areas around town.

Legal notices will be posted at four places within Fairhope:

• The Fairhope Municipal Complex at 161 N. Section St.
• The Fairhope Building Department at 555 S. Section St.
• The Fairhope Planning and Zoning Department at 451 Pecan Ave.
• The James P. Nix Senior Center at 1 Bayou Dr.

The postings would apply to new ordinances, public hearing notices and proposed zoning changes, with each legal notice also being posted on a designated webpage on the city's website for a minimum of 120 days. The city will continue to mail notices as required by state law, along with emailing them to those subscribed to its distribution list.

The ordinance was first introduced during Fairhope City Council's meeting Monday, Sept. 28. City Attorney Chris Williams said that due to a lack of daily newspapers located within Fairhope's city limits, some of the deadlines of meeting the requirements for publishing notices had to be drawn out in advance, delaying the city's ability to make a decision on ordinances, along with what he said were extensive costs for publishing larger notices and images.

"We think this is a fair and a transparent way to notify the public," Williams said. "Gives them a source, multiple sources, of obtaining the information and frankly it's more cost effective for the taxpayers to not have to pay some of these costs, because they are extensive in terms of these notification requirements related to print media."

During the Fairhope City Council meeting on Oct. 12, Council President Jimmy Conyers said they should also be "blasting them on social media" in addition to posting them in the designated areas.