It was all about lifeguards at the start of the July 20 Gulf Shores City Council work session with honors and competitions for future lifeguards and those currently working in the rescue service a prominent topic. And, a chance to grow new competitive events for lifeguards on the city's beaches.

Council had discussions on items in the July 20 session with votes on those items scheduled for the July 27 regular session.

Gulf Shores Fire Department Chief of Staff Melvin Shepard gave presentations on the lifeguard of the month, recognition of participation by the members of the junior lifeguard program and of working lifeguards in the Southeast Regional Lifeguard Competition.

"This is the first time in our history that the junior lifeguards have competed," Shepard said of the event staged during the Fourth of July holiday week. "We worked this year to develop the junior lifeguard program. Instructors Kailyn Winter, Beach Safety Lt. Kim Lee and Beach Safety Director Joethan Phillips worked tirelessly this year to gain interest in this junior lifeguard program in advance to prepare them not only to compete in this but to spark an interest in them for later in life to be lifeguards here on our beaches."

Gulf Shores' team took home first place overall. Shepard said the seven junior competitors brought home 32 individual awards.

"Our juniors crushed this competition," Shepard said. "Out of these seven individuals, there were 15 first-place awards, nine second place and five third place. That's 29 in the top three brackets. I'm pretty sure they've earned the right to nationals, which will be held this year in Fort Lauderdale. We're hoping that's something that can happen."

Junior lifeguard participants included Berkley Lewis, Penelope Key, Elizabeth Key, Brooklyn Key, Natalie Hastic, Joseph Campbell and Amelia Chiseev.

Five of the fire department's lifeguards in the professional competition finished in the top 20 among 150 regional competitors. Beach Safety Lt. Dylan Hess was seventh overall in the men's competition, and instructor Winter finished third overall among the women competitors.

It was the first time the regional event was staged in Gulf Shores. Shepard said officials with the United States Lifeguard Association were impressed with what they saw.

"The guy from USLA who had been around this for 40 years said this was the best ran event they've been to," Shepard said. "That speaks huge volumes on them and all the support we have from the community. The Hangout was a tremendous help with this and so was our Public Works Department."

Fire Chief Mark Sealy said the success of the regional on city beaches could lead to bigger competitions in the future.

"They're already talking about bringing nationals here in the next couple of years," Sealy said. "There were hints about the first world games maybe being hosted here. We're talking about ESPN and those type of things. And, you roll over and talk about nationals and they are still training. I'm really proud of them."

LIFEGUARD OF THE MONTH

Ellie Flagg was honored during the meeting as the lifeguard of the month for June. She made 365 public contacts, executed 357 preventive actions and two water rescues and managed 60 calls for service involving 823 people.

OTHER MATTERS

During the non-voting work session, council also discussed:

Wrapping up four change orders on the construction of the pedestrian bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway at East Second Street. Those include additional steel to increase the wind capacity on the towers for $265,821; a bridge design structural review for $54,258; and design and installation of structural glass along the walkway for $160,334. The city will receive a $443,192 credit for work on the two plaza areas that has now been included in a GoMESA project. All told, the city will owe $37,221 to clear up these four change orders and still have a contingency fund balance of $151,039;

Authorizing a taxi franchise for Action Taxi to operate in Gulf Shores;

Reclassifying several positions with the city including Blake Phelps as the director of strategic initiatives, Amy McKenzie to planning budget and manager and making a part-time accountant position full-time as grants and administrative support specialist;

Hiring two recruitment services to fill vacancies in the city, including Next Move Group for $19,750 for an economic development manager and another with Find Great People for $25,000 for a new communications and engagement director position;

Buying a $142,500 full-body scanner from Tek-84 for the new justice center and paid for by the Municipal Court Judicial Fund. It will help detention officers identify contraband at the city jail, Deputy Chief Joe Taylor told council;

Spend $604,506 on new Christmas decorations with Décor Group to include roofline lights on eight city buildings and lighted palm trees at State Route 59 and Fort Morgan Road and State Route 59 at East Beach Boulevard and other various light pole decorations. It's a three-year contract including decoration services;

A memorandum of understanding with the Pleasure Island Revelers and Mardi Gras Krewe to collaborate on the 2027 Mardi Gras parade on Feb. 9; and

Two agreements with the Alabama High School Athletic Association to continue having the softball regional tournament and the outdoor track championships at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.