County officially opens new dock
ADA-compliant dock ready for July 4th festivities at Smith Lake Park


    With less than a week to go before Smith Lake Park's Fourth of July festivities, Cullman County Park and Recreation has officially opened the park's new ADA-compliant boat dock.
    Construction began in April on the $55,430 handicap-accessible dock, which includes two 20-foot railed walkways and a 16x24 foot floating platform reached by a newly poured 60-foot concrete walkway.
    Robbie Camp, Director of Cullman County Park and Recreation, said that the completion of the project in time for the festival was a very fortunate occurrence and that the project would have been completed sooner if not for inclement weather.
Pictured on the new Smith Lake Park Dock are County Administrator Gary Teichmiller, County
Commission Chairman Norman Tucker, Sammie Danford of Cullman County Economic
 Development, Dan Thompson of Alabama Wildlife and Fisheries, Cullman County Data Processing
 supervisor Joey Martin (seated), Associate Commissioners Wiley Kitchens and Stanley Yarbrough,
 Curtis Poe of Alabama Power, former Count yPark and Recreation Board Chairman Linda Pope,
 County Park and Recreation Director Robbie Camp and Mike Hancock of Nelson and Associates.
    "It's just a big plus for the park and we're glad to see it in place," Camp said. "We truly appreciate all those who contributed and made this project become a reality."
     Funding for the project came from a variety of sources including 75% (up to $42,200) from the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries' Sport Fish Restoration Fund, a federal excise tax on fishing tackle and motorboat fuel.

Bobby Norwood and his family try out the new boat dock as Sammie Danford,
Dan Thompson and Joey Martin discuss the dock and the upcoming Fourth
of July festivities at the park.		      The remainder of the funding was raised locally with efforts headed up by Sammie Danford, the project coordinator for Cullman County Economic Development.
    Pledges from many state and local officials made the project possible, including $5,000 from the County Parks Board; a $5,000 pledge from Sen. Zeb Little, D-Cullman; $3,000 from the Tennessee Valley Resource Conservation and Development Council; $2,500 from the County Parks Foundation Board; and a pledge from the Cullman County Commission to supply the remaining funds.
    The dock itself was manufactured by Mighty-Lite Docks of Russellville, Ala., and assembled by Mike Hancock of Nelson and Associates, a Cullman contracting firm.
    Danford said she would like to offer special thanks to Curtis Poe and Alabama Power, who allowed the dock to be longer than was originally planned.
    "We want to give Alabama Power credit for letting us go out further," she said. "And even though it ended up being longer, they said we could go out an additional 20 feet if needed, but it probably won't be necessary."
    Danford also thanked everyone involved in the project and said she was glad to see the dock complete at last.
    "It will be of great use to not only the disabled visitors to the park, who were unable to use the previous dock, but everyone else who visits Smith Lake Park and uses the boat launch."
    "I think it will prove to be a very valuable asset."

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