FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The City Council passed the remaining 10 months of the city’s budget Monday night, as well as adopting an ordinance to require council approval of the hiring of most city manager jobs upon recommendation of the mayor.

The council passed the first two months of the budget in October before the new council took office in November in order to give the new council time to review the remaining budget before passing it, Council President Debbie Quinn said during a Finance Committee meeting also held on Monday.

As part of the budget discussion during the council meeting, Quinn said the city would continue to maintain a freeze on new hirings, filling of vacancies and promotions, as well as new restrictions on city employee overtime.

The budget with these amendments passed unanimously.

The council adopted an ordinance proposed at a previous council meeting to give approval of hiring most city manager positions to the council. Before the proposed ordinance, hiring of those positions was done solely by the mayor.

The ordinance was delayed from the last council meeting so Councilman Rick Kingrea, a local attorney, could propose language in the ordinance that would require the mayor to recommend the city manager jobs and the council to approve the hirings.

“We have done this so that city employees are comfortable that they only have one boss,” Kingrea said.

Councilman Mike Ford, who had earlier objected to the ordinance for taking power away from the mayor, voted in favor of the ordinance Monday night.

“I’ll second the motion, now that we’ve got that settled,” Ford said.

Councilman Lonnie Mixon emphasized that the council sets policy for the city, which is implemented by the mayor.

“The daily overseeing of the work is the mayor’s,” Mixon said. “But it’s the council’s job to set the policy, and it’s the mayor’s job to implement (it).”

In other business, the council:

•Overruled Mayor Tim Kant’s veto of an ordinance passed at the last council meeting to allow a higher roof height than allowed by city zoning ordinances in a new planned unit development. Although the council overruled the veto, it was done as part of a compromise to accommodate the developer and public notice requirements for new ordinances, which accomplished the aims sought by Kant to have a more open debate about the proposed change in the PUD from when it was originally considered at the Planning and Zoning Commission. The height change from 35 feet to the median of the roof from the peak of the roof was proposed to the council for the first time at the Nov. 24 meeting and was not considered by the commission, Kant said. Quinn stated that the council will publish a new ordinance that does restrict the height to 35 feet at the peak as required by city zoning ordinances and as is done in most other city PUDs and subdivisions, according to a representative from the city planning department.

Quinn indicated the new ordinance would be passed by the council in January, and that by so doing would enable the developer to begin clearing the land. The ordinance would be in place before construction on the houses would begin, she said.

“I wanted to make sure there was a full and open debate about the issue,” Kant said after the meeting.

Kant said he was pleased the council and he could work together to achieve the result they did.

“Tim was a hundred percent right when he said it was a ‘friendly veto,’” said Kingrea, referring to Kant’s statement that the veto was made in order to have a debate on the issue. “I didn’t think of it that way at first (but I do now).”

Kingrea said most council members had spoken individually with the mayor and with the developer.

“I’m glad to see you let the mayor talk,” said Ford, referring to the change in the council agenda by the new council that eliminated a “mayor’s comments” section from the agenda. “That’s one good thing that came out of this.”

•Heard from resident Chris Warner, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor this year, regarding what he claimed were problems at the Publix construction site.

“The Parker Road Project (i.e. Publix) is not in keeping with the stated tenets of the Fairhope Comprehensive Plan,” a letter Warner submitted to the council stated. “The project is not a village; it is a big box strip center with 850 homes behind it. The Parker Road Project (i.e. Publix) site plan passed by the City Council is not being followed. If appropriate action (mitigation) in defense of the citizens of Fairhope is not taken, a class action lawsuit will be filed against the City of Fairhope.”