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http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/stories/both-baldwin-and-orange-beach-toll-authorities-voted-down,44095?

Posted Thursday, November 17, 2016 4:40 pm
BY JOHN MULLEN [e-mail]
ORANGE BEACH, AL — There appeared at first there was a split vote between two toll bridge and road bills that could affect infrastructure in Baldwin County.

Both the bill for a county toll road and bridge authority and one for municipalities, specifically Orange Beach, were defeated in the county. Both failed by a 52 to 48 percent vote. The county authority measure was only on ballots in Baldwin County.

The Orange Beach measure was on the statewide ballot and votes outside of Baldwin County appeared to carry the measure. Several officials at first said the municipal measure could be used by Orange Beach to explore bridge options.

Not so fast.

“Basically, since the statewide municipal toll authority for Baldwin County municipalities didn’t pass in Baldwin County, it failed despite the fact that it received a majority of votes statewide,” County Commissioner Chris Elliott. “Apparently, there’s yet another constitutional amendment out there that impacts this type of occurrence. So, there will be no municipal toll authority in Baldwin County as a result of the election.”

Elliott said he was recently reminded of amendment 555 as an amendment to amendment 425 passed during the 1990s. It reads, in part:

“If the proposed amendment is submitted in a statewide referendum, it shall not become effective unless approved at a referendum by a majority of the qualified voters of the affected county voting on the proposition and the affected political subdivision voting on the proposition, if it affects less than the whole county.”

In Orange Beach, the measure would have given the city the option of setting up its own toll authority and a way to try and move forward with a second bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. That option has been removed.

“The state is doing everything they can,” Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said. “They just don’t have the money.”

Kennon said recently that the state has taken over negotiations with American Roads over the possibility of a second bridge over the water alongside the Foley Beach Express Bridge at The Wharf.

“ALDOT took that over and is in charge now negotiating with the bridge people,” he said. “ALDOT said it’s their decision so it’s their decision. They are the final arbiter of all roads and bridges.”

Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, said the number of amendments voters in Baldwin County were confronted with on the Nov. 8 ballot – 14 statewide and five local – may have caused confusion.

“I’m sure the fact that there were so many amendments on the ballot probably affected all of them,” McMillan said. “I haven’t looked at how many people voted on the parks amendment, for example, and compare that to the ones that voted on down the line on the 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 batch.”

The Baldwin-only vote for a county toll authority, Elliott said, likely failed because of vague language on how it would be formed and operated.

“The ironic thing is, from the comments I heard, was there wasn’t enough specificity built in the amendment,” Elliott said. “It didn’t say who would be on the authority, it didn’t say what roads they were talking about. It didn’t say who had bonding authority or what public officials were going to be named to this toll authority.”

County officials were hoping to use the authority to extend the Baldwin Beach Express from 1-10 northward to an I-65 connection. McMillan and other Baldwin officials were hoping for $500 million of BP money from the state’s settlement to fund the estimated $200 million to $240 million project.

“We got $120 million and that would be half of what we need for the beach express so there wasn’t any sense in trying to do anything there,” McMillan said.

Other projects will benefit from that $120 million including the widening of Canal Road west to Gulf Shores.

Other Baldwin projects will be improvements to U.S. 31 in Spanish Fort and improvements on Alabama 181 widening that road to four lanes, first to Alabama 104 and eventually to County Road 32.

“By taking the $120 million and matching we would be able to do those three projects and it would benefit the citizens of Baldwin County,” McMillan said.







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Alabama Secretary of State: Both of Baldwin's toll road amendments failed

voting
Voters statewide approved Amendment 12, which allowed Baldwin County municipalities the authority to establish a toll authority for their community. But in Baldwin County, the measure failed and, as such, the entire amendment was defeated, according to the Alabama Secretary of State's Office. (file photo)
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on November 17, 2016 at 4:02 PM, updated November 17, 2016 at 4:03 PM
Both toll road amendments for Baldwin County were defeated by voters during the Nov. 8 general election, according to the Alabama Secretary of State's Office on Thursday.

Neither one is expected to be approved after the state's canvassing board meets Nov. 29 to certify the election results. And that includes a statewide amendment which had been widely reported as being approved when, according to Secretary of State officials, it was defeated.

"We still support the concept," said Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, who pushed for the statewide ballot measure to allow municipalities to establish toll road authorities. "We still think it's needed."

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, who supported the measure to help finance a new toll bridge into his coastal city, said he was "not aware" of the measure's actual defeat.

"The rules apply to everyone," said Kennon. "If those are the rules, we'll accept it."

Voters statewide supported Amendment 12, which allowed cities in Baldwin County to incorporate a toll road and bridge authority to oversee the construction and operation of tolls. Each municipal authority, according to the amendment, allowed municipalities to issue revenue bonds to finance projects.

It passed statewide with 624,839 or 50.64 percent of voters in Alabama saying "Yes," while 608,956 or 49.36 percent said "No."

That margin led Baldwin County officials and state lawmakers to believe that it had been approved. Coastal Alabama media outlets also reported that the amendment had also won approval.

But in Baldwin County, voters defeated the amendment with 39,535 or 51.86 percent saying "No" and 36,700 or 48.14 percent voting "Yes."

Meanwhile, a local constitutional amendment voted on by Baldwin County voters only was also defeated by a 51.77-48.23 percent difference. The local amendment would have established a county-wide toll system that would have assisted in financing the construction of the Baldwin Beach Express from Interstate 10 north toward I-65.

Why toll roads and bridges are making a comeback
Why toll roads and bridges are making a comeback
Baldwin County and Mobile could have multiple locations that could work for tolls. In Baldwin County, voters might be able to decide if a toll authority should be formed to address them.

Ed Packard, with the Alabama Constitutional Amendment Commission, said that Alabama Constitutional Amendment 555, ratified in 1994, requires that statewide amendments be ratified only if a majority of voters of the affected county support it.

If not, he said, the measure fails.

Amendment 555, meanwhile, will be replaced in the coming elections after voters statewide endorsed Amendment 3.

That amendment restricts legislators from forcing all voters in the state to vote on an amendment that affects only one county. The Legislature then decides if the amendment has merit, whether it will be on the ballot only the affected county or whether it should be statewide.

The change is from current practice in which a single legislator voting against the merits of a local amendment forces a statewide vote.