FlyTyers offer to help pay for new Lake Ann dock
Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A local fishing group is testing the waters to see if there is any interest in building a covered fishing dock on Lake Ann.
The Bella Vista FlyTyers have approached officials in the Property Owners Association's administration with a proposal to help build a handicap-accessible covered fishing dock, complete with a fish cleaning station, near the dam at Lake Ann, FlyTyers President Dick Rooney said.
The FlyTyers have agreed to provide up to $ 10, 000 to help complete the project, Rooney said. The estimated cost for the proposed dock is $ 65, 000 to $ 68, 000, according to POA General Manager Tommy Bailey.
Lake Ann, the third largest lake in Bella Vista, currently has two small docks, but not much else in the way of fishing spots, Bailey said.
The new dock would be considerably larger than the two in place, and would contain a number of fishing locations for anglers to choose from, Bailey said.
"Most people can't afford a boat, and this would be a way to provide more of a fishing opportunity."
The proposed dock has a design that is believed to attract fish, Rooney said.
"The advantage is that it holds fish. Fish would seek (the dock ) to get out of the sunlight," he said.
The protection the structure of the dock would provide fish would be amplified if other suggestions, such as sinking fish habitat all around the dock, are incorporated, Bailey added. The opportunity to improve members'chances of having a successful fishing trip is a welcomed idea, he said.
The suggested dock construction plan would also include a storage area designed to hold one of the association's lake ranger boats, Bailey noted.
If the plan goes through, employees in the POA's lakes division may take the small dock currently in place on the southern end of the dam and connect it with the other similar-sized dock on the north end of the lake to better accommodate swimmers, Bailey said.
POA Board members unanimously approved the proposal for the fishing dock June 19 during their monthly meeting. The board now has to decide how the association will fund the project.
One suggestion to help find funding for the project would include using $ 32, 000 of undesignated funds the association saved at the beginning of the year, combining it with the FlyTyers contribution and possibly postponing or eliminating one of the three dock installation projects scheduled to take place on lakes Brittany, Rayburn and Norwood this year, Bailey said.
Each of those three lakes was scheduled to get a new $ 20, 000 dock installed sometime this year, he said.
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