Mike McMillan has served as mayor of Spanish Fort since 2012. Prior to that, McMillan served for eight years on the Spanish Fort City Council.

Last month, Spanish Fort celebrated the 30th anniversary of its incorporation. The town, which started in 1993 with 3,600 people, now has close to 11,000 and is one of three growing municipalities on the Eastern Shore. Here, McMillan discusses how the city’s changed since it was incorporated, addresses the traffic issues in Spanish Fort and the city’s “mystery cannon.”

Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

First just tell me about the biggest issues facing Spanish Fort right now?

Well, I mean, the easiest thing to say is the growth, there’s the elements of infrastructure and those things. But if you really want to look at the biggest opportunity we have in the city, it’s managing stormwater, and everything that goes with stormwater. You got to understand the topography of Spanish Fort is very hilly, and the soil conditions are very sandy. So, you got the combination of the hilly terrain, and you know how we get rain in this part of the world, it comes in bucket loads, it creates an erosion issue. So, those are the things that we have the biggest opportunities to take care of, but certainly with the growth we’re having in this part of the world, it’s very important that we look at where we are and where we go into the future.