Divided council passes $500K stormwater plan

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The Mobile City Council passed a nearly $500,000 storm water plan despite concerns from some council members and a local environmentalist.

Executive Director of the Mobile Baykeeper Casi Callaway asked the council to take two more weeks before passing the contract to manage storm water in the port city.

"We also offer our services in anyway. We know a lot about this subject. We're a nonprofit so we don't need to get paid," said Callaway.

Callaway urged council members to reconsider spending that much money on something that could be done in house, with the help of her staff, who could look over the contract and point out the areas of concern.

Councilwoman Bess Rich agreed and encouraged fellow council members to put off voting.

"I would like to see our city officials work with the people in our town who have the expertise and want to give of their time resources and expertise," said Rich.

She also said the city council did not need to rush into any contract.

However, some council members said they feel time is of the essence, and this is an issue that the council has been dealing with for months.

"To say we are rushing into this, we have been dealing with this for months. Our time is up, we acting like a snail," said Richardson.

Council President Reggie Copeland also said he was concerned with the cost, but that the council needed to act now.  

"If we don't have something in place, we could be the recipient of lawsuits by ADEM and other groups," said Copeland.

The council did approve the $494,770.00 contract with Mobile Group, Inc.

It was amended to give the city access to all of the group’s files, and the group must report all findings of any pollutant to the city.

Bess Rich and John Williams voted against the contract.