DAPHNE — The city is looking to lay sidewalks on, among others, Ridgewood and Bayview drives in Lake Forest and from Daphne High School to the middle school on County Road 13, officials said Thursday.

City Clerk David Cohen is looking at two grants from the Alabama Department of Transportation that would allow for the projects.

The first grant of about $4.8 million is for the Lake Forest sidewalks and the city would have to match those funds with about $979,000, according to Cohen.

“We are committing 100 percent to the project,” if they go after the grant, Cohen said.

“The money would not come out of this year’s budget, but possibly the 2008-2009 budget,” Cohen said.

“It would help with the revitalization efforts of Lake Forest and be a real boost,” Councilman Ron Scott said.

However, Councilman August Palumbo raised safety concerns about the project because some of the sidewalks would be within the medians, according to Cohen.

“I’m concerned if we’ll be paving the way for someone to get rolled over,” Palumbo said of the several turnarounds within Lake Forest.

But people are already jogging in the streets and more people would probably be in favor of the sidewalks, Councilman John Lake said.

Still, Palumbo said, “We haven’t done enough research to see if it’s safe for those sidewalks.”

The second sidewalk project grant includes the area from Daphne High School on County Road 13 to County Road 64, according to Cohen.

The grant would cover $1.6 million and the city would match it with about $325,000, according to Cohen.

The City Council at their work session also discussed implementing impact fees.

“I’m all for it. I would like to start tomorrow if we could,” Mayor Fred Small said.

In previous council meetings council members voiced concerns about whether incoming developers and potential house hunters would shy away from the city because of the fees.

“I don’t think building will stop in Daphne,” Council President Greg Burnam said.

“People will know that services like the fire and police are there and that they’re going to be provided for,” Small said.

Council members agreed to give Cohen any questions or concerns they have so that a representative from TischlerBise, the firm that completed the impact fee study, could answer them.

In other business:

•The council hopes to pass the 2008 fiscal year budget at Monday’s council meeting, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. The 9 percent cuts were made to the budget as requested by council.

•The council will start looking for a new District 6 representative as Councilwoman Regina Landry intends to resign at the end of this month as she is getting married and moving to Fairhope.