Gailey hopes the project, with a third of the funding from Gov. Sonny Perdue's "Go Fish" program, will get Laurel Park ready for a national bass tournament set for 2010.
"We're going to do the full project," Gailey said. "It was a little over budget but we're going to go ahead and put the money in from impact fees and finish the project."
Laurel Park's upgrade was budgeted at just over $900,000; commissioners approved spending at $1.2 million for more parking, two large new "mega" boat ramps, a 500-seat arena and a fish tank to be used for weighing tournament fish and returning them to the lake.
Gailey said $200,000 for Laurel Park would come from impact fee revenues.
Gailey added that the improvement work needs to be completed while the lake is at a low level so the new boat ramps may be constructed without the use of coffer dams to keep the water away.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/9/213085