Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft still isn’t sure a new bridge will be built over the Intracoastal Waterway east of the city’s airport but he said there is good news on the possible construction moving forward.

Craft spoke at the end of the Oct. 3 council work session to give an update on the bridge and the possibility of medical cannabis dispensaries in the city. The Alabama Department of Transportation opened bids on the project on Friday with Scott Bridge Company out of Opelika turning in the lowest conforming bid of the three received at $51.8 million.

“Now will that bridge be built or not? I can’t answer that,” Craft said. “I know there’s still negotiations going on between the parties but I do believe they’re in the process. My conservations with the director of ALDOT are that they are going to go through with the bid. ALDOT’s going to work on that to make sure it’s a conforming bridge and then a decision will have to be made whether to issue the contract or not.”

Other bids were for at $53.3 million and $67 million and the bracket estimate on the project from ALDOT was $48 million to $60 million, Craft said.

“The big hurdle is over and that is designed and there’s a price within the expected budget,” Craft said. “Now I can’t tell you what’s going to happen from there because I don’t know. And, I’m not sure anybody outside the governor’s office knows. But for this point in time, we’ve got a good bid on a good project and I’m hopeful.”

MEDICAL CANNABIS

Craft said rather than going ahead with the process of advertising an ordinance leading up to an eventual vote he and the council would rather get input from the public on dispensaries before that process is started.

“We were approached last week by a member of the community wanting to have some discussions and get council to react to a request for medical marijuana distribution and we’ve decided what we’re going to do is create a committee to try and get the community’s input into this,” Craft said. “This is a kind of a firecracker. It’s a hot topic throughout other areas. Where do you put it? That’s not something the council is ready to make on our own. We’re going to start getting input through that.”

Ryan Shamburger with Big Beach Brewing asked both the council and planning commission to consider starting the ordinance process to allow for dispensaries. The city has to pass the ordinance before the application period ends on Dec. 30.

“There’s a timeframe to where we can pass an ordinance allowing it or it can’t happen,” Craft said. “So that’s kind of where we are. We’re going to be doing that and we’ll be giving reports on that. We’re going to move it as quickly as we can to try to make a collective decision whether that is what we want in our community. So, there’s a lot of issues related to that when you read about other communities and what they go through.”

Alabama passed the Compassion Act during the 2021 session which allows for medical cannabis to be prescribed to citizens who meet certain criteria. Part of the bill also says each individual city must pass an ordinance allowing dispensaries to operate in cities.

Other qualifications in the bill include requirements that the medical cannabis be grown and processed in the state of Alabama for use by citizens with a prescription.

“To legally use and access medical cannabis, patients must apply for and receive a medical cannabis card,” the memo states. “To qualify, they must be an Alabama resident, have a qualifying condition and a physician’s certification. Qualifying conditions include a range of ailments including but not limited to autism, cancer, chronic pain, depression, HIV/AIDs, and terminal illnesses.”

Foley’s City Council recently voted to allow the dispensaries to operate there and they have been approved by Loxley and Daphne as well. Other cities already approving dispensaries around the state include Cowarts in Houston County, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Glencoe in northeast Alabama, Cullman, Russellville in Franklin County, Owens Cross Roads in Madison County and Killen in Lauderdale County.