CULLMAN — Cullman County is hoping to join the growing list of area municipalities putting tougher laws in place to keep registered sex offenders away from public parks.

Unlike Hanceville and Dodge City, which recently have passed ordinances making it a Class C misdemeanor for sex offenders caught visiting the parks, the county is expecting to urge the local legislative delegation to introduce a bill making the same offense a felony.

The commission passed a resolution Wednesday authorizing county attorney Dan Willingham to draft a document that could go before legislators in the 2011 session, a move associate commissioner Wayne Willingham said is, in part, a timely response to the municipalities’ similar efforts, as well as the manifestation of an idea that had already been in the works.

“We’d actually been talking about it for quite some time,” said Willingham Thursday.

“It was something we were trying to figure out a way to do, and then we saw that other places were doing it. We already thought it was a good idea and had been talking about it a while back before any of this came up. We realized that we couldn’t pass an ordinance to ban it, like cities can, so Dan did some research and we found out we have to have it done through our legislature.”

While no bill has been written since the agreement was reached at Wednesday’s regular commission meeting, Willingham said he has already gotten favorable indications that the law would be supported by local legislators.

“I talked to Jeremy [Oden, House district 11] a little bit about it, and he said, ‘Yeah; no problem,’” said Willingham. “It’s something that’s needed. We’ve got lots and lots more families using the parks, now that we’ve gotten them to a point where they’re in good shape and have more activities for people, and it’s the right time for it, especially with some complaints we’ve had at Sportsman Lake Park.”

Park employees at Sportsman Lake have been instructed to monitor activity in the most remote reaches of the park’s walking trails and picnic areas, where Willingham said the most complaints of suspicious activity originate.

“I’ve been having the parkhands keep it patrolled while they’re there in the day as much as they can,” he said. “The walking track goes back pretty far—back to the very back restroom, where some of them have hung out the most.”



In other business, the commission:

• Heard a request from Hanceville Water & Sewer Board member Charles Wilson, who asked that the commission work with the town to pursue approval for a water line traversing a bridge on County Road 541 in the River Bend community.
• Passed a resolution approving the incorporation of County Road 906 at Smith Lake into the county’s road maintenance system.
• Heard a request from Revenue Commissioner Barry Willingham, who asked commissioners to consider increasing the county’s current $28-per-day contribution to the $40-per-day payment received by members of the Board of Equalization. The State of Alabama, which contributes $12 per day, is expected to begin decreasing its contribution by 12 percent, leaving board members doing what Willingham described as “a thankless job” with even less  incentive than the meager compensation provided to them now.
• Declared three Sanitation Department trucks surplus property, agreeing to sell two to Winston County. The third will be auctioned on a government-sponsored website.
• Declared a chip spreader used by the east side road department surplus property.
• Donated $1,000 to the Joppa Volunteer Fire Department.
• Approved a bid to C.D. Roberts of Jasper for $31,225 for a water main relocation project along Gandy’s Cove Road in Morgan County. Morgan County will reimburse Cullman County 100 percent for the work.
• Authorized the acceptance of and signing for an annual federal grant for fiscal year 2011 for the Cullman Area Rural Transit Authority.
• Granted a tax abatement for New Century Products of Arkadelphia, a new venture that will manufacture scent-free fertilizer from chicken litter, as well as scented fertilizer in a selection of flavors—apple, vanilla and licorice. The $1.2 million startup, when fully operational, is expected to create 25 jobs over a three-year period.
• Changed regulations concerning the type of paving material permissible for use in subdivisions.

The next commission meeting will be held at 10 a.m. July 27 in the commission meeting room of the Cullman County Courthouse.



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