SPANISH FORT, Ala. — The City Council set a Jan. 3 public hearing regarding a proposed ordinance governing the handling of false fire and security alarms across the city.

The ordinance sets a 30-day grace period for residents and business owners to come into compliance and is intended to improve the quality of alarm systems in use while decreasing the number of false alarms to which the police and fire departments respond.

“This takes the investigative and penalty processes and puts them in the hands of the police department,” said City Attorney David Conner.

Originally, the item applied only to fire alarms, but the language has since been updated to include security alarms as well. As written, first and second offenses would be met with warnings from the responding authorities, while third and subsequent offenses would levy fines of $50 to $500 or the possibility of six months in jail.

In other business the council:

• Approved a one-time, cost-of-living salary adjustment for full-time employees effective Dec. 22. For more details, see www.baldwincountynow.com.
• Postponed, at the applicant’s request, consideration of an ordinance allowing AT&T to begin providing IP-enabled video service within the city limits. At issue is the utility company’s compliance with the city’s right-of-way ordinance and terms are still being negotiated. The item will be revisited during the Jan. 3 meeting.
• Declined unanimously to accept the donation of 11.5 acres of land, citing the need for property owners to resolve substantial stormwater runoff issues first.
• Approved unanimously a resolution authorizing Mayor Joe Bonner to execute a contract between the city and the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce supporting in spirit the business organization’s five-year “Blueprint for a Better Tomorrow” but committing to only two consecutive years of funding in the amount of $17,500. The step was taken because current terms will have expired within that timeframe, and council members agreed not to commit future leadership to financial obligations.
• Approved unanimously a resolution granting Spanish Fort Water System Inc. with a $20,000 professional services allocation from the city’s 2011 operating budget to proceed with annual flow-testing and routine maintenance on fire hydrants. The one-time allocation represents two-thirds of the total amount needed, and the private company will pay for the remaining third.
• Approved a resolution authorizing Bonner to proceed with the design phase of an athletic field house at Spanish Fort High School. For more details, see www.baldwincountynow.com on Thursday.
• Granted a request by the current property owner to extend the compliance period into January on a nuisance ordinance violation for property at 32754 Curlew Court. New owners are in the process of assuming control of the property which had been abandoned and left in disarray by the former owner.
• Announced City Hall will be closed Dec. 24 and 27 in observance of the Christmas holidays with offices re-opening at 8 a.m. Dec. 28.
• Announced City Hall will be closed Dec. 31 in observance of the New Year’s holiday with offices re-opening at 8 a.m. Jan. 3.
• Announced the regularly scheduled Jan. 17 meeting will be re-scheduled for Jan. 24 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The next regular meeting of the council will begin with a 5 p.m. work session in the conference room at City Hall on Jan. 3, followed immediately by the regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the Gathering Place in the Prodisee Center.