As a former county attorney and longtime member of the mostly-defunct Cullman-Morgan Water District, Jimmy Knight has been around the block a time or two with local plans for a secondary water source.

Now the chairman of Cullman County’s newly-created Duck River Advisory Board, Knight is proud to see decades of planning finally come to a head with the Duck River Dam.

“There’s a spirit of cooperation happening uniquely from a government standpoint at this time,” he said. “The commission, the chairman, the mayor, the council, the utilities board are all working together … I don’t need Duck River, but I have grandchildren who are going to need it. That’s who this is for, future generations.”

Though the City of Cullman is building the $68 million dam and secondary water source project via the Cullman Utilities Board, the city, county and area water systems had previously agreed to create an entity representing all local water systems that would take control of the lake once construction bonds are eventually paid off in approximately 30 years.

Efforts to create the board in the state legislature stalled due to logistics surrounding the proposal last year, so the county took the step earlier this year to create a 10-member advisory board in the interim, with plans to eventually transition this board into an ownership-stakeholder entity in the future.

The advisory board held its first meeting Monday, with members E.H. Duke with the Walter Water Authority, Nathan Finley with the City of Hanceville, Keith Henry with the East Cullman Water System, Patrick Klein with V.A.W. Water System, Inc., Lavell Thrasher with Johnson’s Crossing Water System, and Wells Turner Sr. with the City of Cullman, and Edwin Carter of the Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District as a non-voting member.

The commission is allowed three at-large slots, and appointed Jimmy Knight, Jackie Satterfield, and Jay Mullins to the board.

Knight was named chairman, Klein was appointed vice-chair and Satterfield was named secretary.

“There were some obstacles, of course, but I feel we’re obligated to get it out there by forming this board,” county commission chairman James Graves said of the board’s formation. “We want to show the people of Cullman County that we’re getting it done. We want this to be something the people of Cullman County can look at and put their trust in.”

The board will serve in an advisory capacity over the Duck River project, which calls for the creation of a 640-acre lake with a 32-million-gallon-per-day capacity in the Duck River watershed. Once complete, the new lake will serve in conjunction with current water source Lake Catoma.

Knight said he believes the board can go a long way toward repairing some bridges between the county and city, as the need for a secondary water source has caused officials on both sides to butt heads over viability and options in previous administrations.

“There has been some controversy about Duck River, and about an alternate water supply since the first time it was broached 30 years ago,” he said. “The more we move this board out into the public, the better off we’ll all be. We’ve all heard a million rumors about Duck River, so we need to get out as much as we can from a financial standpoint, and a construction standpoint, and a farming standpoint to make sure that information gets to the public. We want universal support for this.”

Board member Jay Mullins said he believes the formation is a great show of cooperation between local government and water system stakeholders.

“It shows everyone is really working together, not just for now, but for the future,” he said.

The board has yet to adopt rules of order. Organizational decisions are expected to come at an 11:30 a.m., October 24 meeting set for the Cullman County EMA office.

* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.