FAIRHOPE – A group of residents is asking the city of Fairhope for help stabilizing a gully that is eroding toward their property and said they are willing to share the cost of the work, city officials said Monday, Jan. 10.

The gully extends behind Fairhope Avenue near a condominium unit, Richard Johnson, public works director, told City Council members. Johnson said the city stabilized part of the gully near the site in 2008 but stopped work before reaching the property.

“Jumping ahead 13 years, they have continued to suffer a good bit of bluff erosion,” Johnson said. “It has been exasperated by the fact that during Hurricane Sally there were several large trees that were overturned on that embankment that dislodged the root balls and again led to further slope erosion and sloughing.”

Johnson said that while the property on the edge of the gully is privately owned, the city owns the ravine itself. The Fairhope Single Tax Colony deeded the land to the city in the 1930s at the same time that the group gave Fairhope other parcels, including the pier and waterfront park areas, he said.

He said residents have offered to pay half the cost of stabilization if the city will pay the remaining amount.

He said an estimate prepared for property owners put the engineering costs at $17,200 and the cost of the work at about $180,000. Johnson said he thought that the final cost would be more than the estimate.

“In this case, there is a property owners association that at least has acknowledged that they’re in for 50 cents on the dollar if we can make this project go forward,” Johnson said.

Councilman Jack Burrell said he worried that an agreement with private property owners for work that would improve their property could set a precedent for other commitments in the city.

“The decisions that we make now is going to potentially affect us for potentially hundreds of properties over the next 100 years,” Burrell said.

Councilman Jay Robinson said that while the action could help private property owners as well as the city, fixing the bluff now could be less expensive than repairing damage later.

“An opportunity to take some measure to correct a future problem is much better than reacting and responding once the problem has already occurred and having someone willing at this point to pay half of the cost,” Robinson said. “Now, they’re getting their own benefit from it, which is obviously why they’re paying.”

Council members asked Marcus MacDowell to study the proposal and report back to the city on potential legal issues.