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February 15, 2011

Property owners in Duck River watershed to attend meeting

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — Property owners whose land will be affected by the construction of the Duck River Reservoir will have their first opportunity to meet with all the key players involved in the land acquisition process tonight at a public meeting designed specifically to target their questions and concerns.

The meeting, which is being organized by the utilities board of the City of Cullman, will provide informational booths for property owners to visit at their leisure for the period between 5 and 7 p.m. tonight at the Holly Pond school cafeteria. According to Cullman Economic Development Agency project manager Susan Eller, the booths will be manned by representatives from the various agencies and firms involved in the reservoir’s construction: land appraisers, engineers, environmental officers, lawyers and accountants.

While the meeting is open to the public, it is not a public hearing and will not follow a schedule or agenda. Rather, said Eller, the event is designed to most benefit those who own property in the area that the reservoir’s footprint will ultimately claim.

“This meeting is open to the public; anyone can come,” said Eller. “But we’re not going to have a place where people can come and sit down and listen to somebody give a talk — we’re going to have booths around the room set up so that the individual landowners can put a face and a name and get to know everyone who is representing the utilities board, and speak with them one on one. They will be able to ask questions, and, even if it is not possible to get an immediate answer, it will put the questions in play and introduce property owners to the people who will be able to get answers for them.”

Eller said there are currently just under 100 property owners whose land is expected to be affected by the acquisition process. Land acquisition is expected to require most of 2011 to complete. The reservoir itself, when finished, will occupy a 640-acre lake that will supply water to the city’s treatment plant via a new six-mile pipeline. The entire project, which will be financed by bonds the city intends to issue later this year, is projected to have a construction cost of approximately $70 million.

* For the complete story read the Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, edition of The Cullman Times.

* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

 

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