Hero image: AI-generated editorial illustration about business recruitment and city revenue. The revenue line is symbolic.
Spanish Fort News | Monthly community report
Reporting period: January 1–31, 2026
Retrospective prepared October 28, 2026. This report summarizes public records and attributed reporting; it is not an official city-issued report.
Spanish Fort began 2026 with an important question before its leadership: how should a growing community pay for the services residents expect? Business recruitment featured in the mayor’s January outlook, while transportation planning, development review, public-safety recognition and community activities filled out the month’s agenda.
Mayor and economy: recruiting businesses to support city services
Mayor Brad Bass made business recruitment a central theme of his early-year outlook at the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs and Issues gathering at Resurrection Church in Daphne. FOX10’s January 14 report described a meeting bringing together the mayors of Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope to discuss their communities’ plans for 2026.
Bass said Spanish Fort’s revenue had remained relatively flat over the preceding five years, even as the community grew. He linked that situation to difficulty providing some services and identified attracting additional businesses as a way to increase city revenue. That was the mayor’s assessment, rather than an independently calculated financial trend.
His remarks established a useful benchmark for the year: whether recruitment produces operating businesses and revenue that can support services. An announced investment and an open business are different milestones. January’s statement set a direction; subsequent financial results will determine its effect.
Source: FOX10, January 14: Eastern Shore mayors outline 2026 plans at chamber event.
Transportation: a public review window for the Eastern Shore’s future
The Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization invited public comment on its final draft 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan during January. Its January 5 notice established a January 2–16 review period and scheduled a public meeting for January 13, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Loxley City Hall.
Spanish Fort residents could review the document and obtain comment forms through the city clerk’s office and public library. Written comments could also be submitted to the MPO. Those local review points gave residents a way to participate without relying solely on attendance at the Loxley meeting.
The distinction between planning and construction matters. This was a review opportunity for a long-range transportation document, not a notice that every proposed improvement was funded or beginning construction. For residents concerned about commuting, school traffic and regional connections, January provided an opportunity to place those concerns into the planning process.
Source: Eastern Shore MPO public notice, January 5.
Development: church improvements pair new parking with stormwater work
The Spanish Fort Planning Commission approved a Phase One site plan for Spanish Fort First Baptist Church at 8535 Spanish Fort Boulevard on January 12, according to Baldwin REALTORS’ January government update. The work forms part of an existing multi-phase campus master plan.
The approved phase includes removing two playgrounds to accommodate grading and additional parking, installing a new playground east of the gym and fellowship hall, and constructing an upstream detention pond to offset increased impervious surface. The property includes B-2 local-business and R-2 residential zoning, under which church-related uses require Planning Commission approval.
The drainage component makes the decision more than a parking story. Adding paved surfaces changes how rainfall moves across a site; the proposed detention pond was part of addressing that change. The reported action was site-plan approval, rather than confirmation that the improvements had been built or opened during January.
Source: Baldwin REALTORS, January 29: Local Government Update — January 2026.
Fire, police and schools: updates from the January 5 council meeting
The minutes of January 5, reproduced in the January 20 council packet, record a promotion ceremony for Fire Department personnel Shane Stewart and La’Meek Reeves. Fire Chief Roger Few also reported that Christmas-tree recycling remained underway.
Police Chief John Barber reported that letters had been sent concerning recent issues at the recycling center. Public Works Director Shannon Burroughs added concerns about non-recyclable items being left there. The record documents a service-management problem, without establishing a wider crime trend.
Councilmember Mary Brabner highlighted classroom whiteboard desks supported by the local three-mill school tax. Her presentation offered a concrete example of an educational purchase associated with that funding; the minutes do not supply a January spending total or measured outcome for the desks.
The same meeting record documents approval of special-event liquor-license requests for a January 17 Los Toros Bravos Mardi Gras Association event and a January 24 Krewe of Serendipity event at the Community Center. Those approvals document preparations, rather than attendance or post-event results.
Source: City of Spanish Fort, January 20 council packet, including January 5 minutes.
Events and heritage: Revolutionary War programming at Blakeley
Historic Blakeley State Park’s January 10–11 “Battle at the Village” program appeared on Alabama’s America250 calendar, connecting a local history event with the nation’s approaching 250th anniversary. The published schedule combined demonstrations, historical discussions and reenactments at the park’s Spanish Fort location on State Highway 225.
Saturday’s program listed infantry drills, musket and artillery demonstrations, a discussion of the Gulf Coast in the Revolutionary War and an afternoon battle reenactment. Sunday’s schedule included additional drills and a “Tories, Dons, and Rebels” skirmish. Eighteenth-century cooking demonstrations were also advertised for Saturday.
The program offered a locally grounded way to explore the region’s history through interpretation and demonstrations. The surviving listing establishes what was scheduled; it does not provide an attendance count or independent confirmation that every advertised activity took place.
Source: America250 Alabama: “Battle at the Village” — Revolutionary War Reenactment.
High school sports: Toros basketball closes January with a win
Spanish Fort’s varsity boys basketball results included both close contests and a decisive final January victory. MaxPreps records a 48–43 win over Gulf Shores on January 13, followed by a 42–39 loss to Baldwin County on January 16. The three-point margin against Baldwin County made it one of the tighter games in this verified selection.
Gulf Shores won the January 20 rematch, 72–62. Spanish Fort then fell 65–60 to McGill-Toolen on January 23 before defeating Pace 41–27 on January 30. The Pace result gave the Toros a 14-point victory to finish the month’s listed games.
These results show a mixed stretch, including a split against Gulf Shores and narrow losses to two opponents. They are selected verified results, rather than a complete January schedule or a basis for declaring a full-month record.
Source: MaxPreps: Spanish Fort varsity boys basketball results.