Gulf State Park Hotel Bill Approved By Alabama House Of Representatives
By Mike Cason, al.com, May 2, 2013
MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The Alabama House of Representatives gave final passage today to a bill to allow the state to partner with a private developer on a hotel and conference center on the beach at Gulf State Park.
The bill, SB231, by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, has already passed the Senate. The House vote today sends the bill to Gov. Robert Bentley, who is a strong supporter of the measure.
“This is one of the most significant projects that we have ever undertaken in this state,” Bentley said. “It’s going to create hundreds of jobs, millions of dollars.”
The House passed the bill by a vote of 75-24.
The project would be built on the site of the state lodge that was torn down after it was hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Bentley and others have said the state needs a conference center on the site to accommodate convention business that now goes to the Florida Gulf coast and elsewhere.
On Wednesday, Bentley announced that $85.5 million from funds that BP is paying for restoration projects as a result of the 2010 Gulf oil spill has been approved for enhancements at Gulf State Park, including the hotel and conference center.
The governor said today the project could be in line for money from other sources related to the oil spill. He said it was too soon to say when construction might begin.
“We have to go through a process where we have comments from the public, and actually we have not gotten the money in place yet, not the total amount,” Bentley said. “But this is a big step in the right direction and we feel certain we’re going to be able to get this accomplished.”
A market study is expected to be completed by late summer or fall.
The bill says the governor may issue requests for proposals for the construction, development, and operation of a project on the 29-acre beach site where the Gulf State lodge once stood.
The bill sets up a Gulf State Park Project Committee that “may approve or reject any project agreement” negotiated and approved by the governor.
The governor will be an ex-officio member and chairman. Other members would be the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the Senate, state finance director, secretary of Commerce, commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources and chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on State Parks, or their designees.
Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, who handled the bill in the House, successfully urged the House to reject several proposed amendments.
Some lawmakers expressed concerns that the bill included loopholes that would allow a sweetheart deal benefiting those with political connections.
One proposed amendment, by Rep. Daniel Boman, D-Sulligent, would have said that the governor and his family and former governors and their families could not bid on the project. Legislators and members of their families and officers and employees of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are excluded from the bid process under the bill.
McMillan said he thought the efforts to amend the bill were intended to require it to return to the Senate, which could have jeopardized its passage this late in the session. He said the bill includes safeguards to make sure that the process is fair.
“There’s an eight-step process that protects the public’s interest and the transparency of all of these transactions,” McMillan said.
Updated at 7:43 p.m. to add quotes and more information.
Updated at 5:16 a.m. on May 3 to provide link to bill and add name of sponsor and at 5:57 a.m. to add information about proposed amendments.
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