HANCEVILLE — During the year’s warmer months, an ever-growing slate of crowd-attracting local events has boosted recent demand for RV accommodations at Cullman County’s publicly operated campgrounds.

With a patch of pristine wooded property located close in town near restaurants, retail and even another municipal park, the city of Hanceville is hoping to claim a piece of RV camping’s ongoing popularity. At its regular meeting this week, mayor Kenneth Nail updated the city council on early preparations to install RV rental sites on a tract of city-owned land that lies between the city’s C.W. Day Park and the CVS Pharmacy at the intersection of U.S. Highway 31 and Alabama Highway 91.

In addition to furnishing water, electricity, and sewer service at the sites, the city also aims to clear a section of the 11-acre property for use as a biking, walking, and golf cart trail. Nail said the trail, when finished, will supply another missing link in the city’s long-range plan to connect all of its public parks for pedestrians.

“The goal has always been to tie all of our parks together with some kind of trail,” he said, “and we’re getting closer. We’ve done most of the clearing work and still have to work on clearing a few of the trails. It shouldn’t take long.”

There’s no urgent timeline on finishing the work, though Nail hopes to have an initial lineup of 10 RVs sites in place (with room to install many more) by summer of next year. As at the area’s other municipal parks, campers would be able to reserve spaces and pay a daily fee — something Nail said campers have been doing by the dozens as major events like Rock the South bring out-of-town tourists into Cullman County for extended recreational visits.

“We learned from talking with the county folks that Smith Lake Park was booked out during Rock the South; so was Palomino [the City of Cullman’s Palomino RV Resort],” he said. “With those events, plus all of the ball tournaments, concerts, and our rodeo, we think there’s a nice opportunity. and it’ll be a nice addition to our parks that our residents can enjoy too.”

In other business at its regular meeting, the council:

• Approved a $20,000 invoice to Phyllis Brewer, CPA, P.C. for conducting the city’s 2021 fiscal year audit.
• Denied a property rezoning request that previously had been given an unfavorable assessment by the city planning commission.
• Tabled until the next regular meeting consideration of making application for a grant to help partially fund the cost of a proposed outdoor fitness court area at C.W. Day Park.
• Tabled consideration of obtaining cybersecurity insurance coverage for the city until the next regular council meeting.
• Approved a $10,000 transfer out of the city General Fund to cover a cost gap for a new police vehicle, after the police department withdrew a previous request to surplus and sell an older vehicle whose sale cost initially had been projected to make up the difference.
• Declared surplus a pair of cooling fans originally obtained by the city via the federal 1033 equipment program.
• Declared surplus a variety of other miscellaneous items.
• Approved the minutes
• of the council’s July 13 regular meeting.
• The next regular council meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 10 in the council meeting room at Hanceville City Hall. A 5 p.m. public work session will precede the meeting at the same location.