FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The City Council voted 4-1 this week to purchase approximately 38.5 acres east of the public high and middle schools on the southwest corner of Manley Road and County Road 13 for additional recreational ball fields at the request of the city’s recreation board.

The seller will reap a possible benefit of approximately $481,000, which is the difference between the amount originally paid for the property and the purchase price to the city, according to information provided by the chairman of the recreation board at Monday’s council meeting.

The sale price for the land will be $22,500 per acre for a total cost of approximately $875,000, according to city records distributed at a Financial Advisory Committee meeting prior to the Monday council meeting.

The city is expected to close on the purchase in the next week or so with the seller, Manley Road LLC, an Alabama company based in Mobile, which was represented by Ruffin Graham of RJG Real Estate and Development in Mobile, according to Councilman Mike Ford, who represented the city in the negotiations.

Graham did not return a phone call for comment by press time.

Councilman Rick Kingrea voted against the land purchase, after stating he wanted to know the identity of the sellers, how long they held the property, how much they paid for it, and who is receiving the real estate commission.

“I want to make sure that we’re dealing at arms’ length,” he said. “I have a real problem dealing with people when I don’t who they are.”

Ford said he did not know how much the seller paid for the land, which he said was irrelevant to the current deal. Ford also said he did not know how much Graham’s commission would be but stated that he is not receiving any income from the sale.

“I am not getting a penny out of this,” said Ford, who owns a real estate company. “You’re getting a bargain. I think it’s a fair deal. It’s probably not the best deal, (but) if the economy turns around, we wouldn’t be able to purchase anything like this.”

Ford said that property located adjacent to the land in question was valued at approximately $50,000 an acre.

During the council’s discussion, Charlie Langham, recreation board chairman, said the property was sold about eight years ago for $12,500 per acre to the Mobile company, which he said was comprised of doctors and attorneys in Mobile and formed for investment purposes.

“Johnny Baker was the man that brought this to us,” said Langham, referring to Baker, a member of the recreation board, bringing the possibility of the land purchase to the board.

“Ruffin Graham is a good friend of Johnny Baker,” stated Langham, noting that Baker is president of Thompson Engineering.

According to state corporation records, Graham is the registered agent of Manley Road LLC, which was incorporated on Dec. 4, 2002 and is comprised of the following members: Joke LLP, M&T Investments, Wayne S. Keith, EGM LLC, Paul Freeman and RJG Development LLC.

The land purchase proposal was brought to the council at the Sept. 28 meeting by Ford, who is the council’s liaison to the recreation board. His motion to have the city purchase the property died for lack of a second, with some council members stating the proposal should have been first considered by the Financial Advisory Committee, a council-appointed committee to advise the council on budget and financial issues.

The proposal was the only item at a FAC meeting prior to Monday’s council meeting on Oct. 12. Its chairman, Chuck Zunk, stated the committee would not make a recommendation regarding whether the council should purchase the land, but was meeting in order to discuss possible financing options should the council decide to buy the land.

During that meeting, Ford and Langham said the city needed the land for additional ball fields because of how quickly the city’s recreational soccer and youth baseball leagues had grown in the past few years.

“The fields are crowded, and we have no other land to expand to,” Ford said.

Ford’s recommendation for financing was that the city use portions of funds dedicated for use by the recreation board and to borrow approximately half of the purchase price.

Other financing recommendations included use of some reserve funds from the city’s general fund account, according to Zunk

“The only way that I think we should do it is to use rec funds and not borrow any money,” said Councilman Lonnie Mixon, chair of the council’s finance committee and a leader on the FAC. “Now is not the time to go busting the budget.”

The committee voted unanimously to recommend that the council finance the property from the following sources, according to city records: the balance of bond funds raised for the parks and recreation department in the amount of $242,290; the balance of impact fees dedicated for parks and recreation in the amount of $357,719; the balance of the recreation capital improvement account in the amount of $309,470; with any additional funds needed to come from the municipal capital improvement fund, which has a balance of $220,600.

City records discussed at the committee meeting showed that the city has general fund reserves as of Sept. 30 in the amount of $553,428, which the city treasurer emphasized did not included amounts being set aside for reserve by the local city sales tax adopted earlier this year. Half of those amounts raised are required to be placed in a reserve account.

During the council discussion of the land purchase, Wendy Allen of Smart Coast asked from the audience whether the council had required an appraisal on the property, stating that Baldwin County requires three appraisals be done.

Ford said no appraisal on the property had been done.

In other business, the council:

• Adopted a noise ordinance.

• Approved the employment of an assistant city clerk, Candace Garner Antinarella, who has previously worked as a paralegal in Mobile and Baldwin counties, she said.

• Learned that Ilse Krick, director of the public library, is retiring after two years in that position, according to the library’s minutes.

• Passed a resolution creating a new “complete streets” policy for the city that states: “Whereas the City of Fairhope supports construction of streets to enable safe access for all users, including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transportation, the City of Fairhope will consider these practices when undertaking construction, reconstruction and repair of our roadways.”

The policy is the first one passed by a city in Alabama, according to members of the Smart Coast group, which promoted its adoption.