GULF SHORES — Even though no one knows when fine or grant money will be available from the 2010 oil spill, Gulf Shores wants to be ready with plans in hand in case it does start flowing.

With that in mind, the city is taking advantage of an Alabama Department of Environmental Management matching grant to commission a study of its two main public beaches.

“Until we have a plan we don’t have anything to submit for future opportunities for RESTORE and/or NRDA if any of those funds were available for this,” Mayor Robert Craft said. “This would have to be something that we design for the purpose of being able to present for consideration for some of these grant monies.”

The grant is for $50,000 and the city will match it with $37,500 cash and $12,500 in in-kind services. The study to be conducted by Thompson Engineering of Mobile will focus on the main public beach at Gulf Place and the beach access area at Little Lagoon Pass.

Craft says improving parking and traffic flow at Gulf Place will be one goal of the effort at the popular beach.

“We’ve looked at that several times in the past to try to figure out how to possibly configure traffic down there and parking a little bit better than we have now,” Craft said. “I think this is one last shot to try to consolidate that together as we prepare for the opportunity to present it for special funding coming forward.

“It would be eligible under some of the fine penalties and environmental fund money when we talk about our beaches down here.”

Work on a new bridge over Little Lagoon Pass will begin sometime this fall and the mayor wants to make sure the plan takes into account the dynamic that will be in place after construction there.

“Can the restroom facility stay where it is or does it have to be moved?” the mayor asked. “Can we get people safely under the bridge from the parking side to the beach side without having to cross the road?

“Those are some of the elements that I think are important to be included when the bridge goes in down here. It was my understanding part of that was going to all safe access from one side to the other.”

City Planner Andy Bauer said the firm will come up with three plans and then work with staff to turn that into one plan to be implemented.

“After they come back we will narrow it down into different elements of each one to come up with a final master plan,” Bauer said. “It is anticipated this work will be done by February of next year.”

Initially the city asked for firms to submit credentials necessary to conduct such a study and received six replies. A group of city officials narrowed that number down to two firms and eventually picked Thomas Engineering.

“They will go through and work with staff, potentially some property owners to develop and to identify the existing conditions down there and identify the needs of the city, particularly some of those that use it annually,” Bauer said.

Bauer said the city’s $37,500 cash contribution could come from recreation impact fees.

“There is an operational line item in the community development budget that has a balance of $43,783 so this amount is already budgeted,” City Administrator Steve Griffin said.