Posted on September 21, 2022
The Enterprise was at the Selma Marina Sept. 8 and 9.
It wasn’t the star ship or the aircraft carrier. It was the dredge boat sent to open the mouth of the marina as part of an ongoing dredging project.
Frank McIntosh, site manager for Alabama River Lakes, explained they have a small boat access permit and the funding that allows for “dredging at the mouths of some of the creeks and sloughs along the river. We were fortunate to get the funds this year. It’s been well over 30 years since any of this has been done.” He said the permit stipulates where and how much they can dredge.
“Work started a couple of weeks ago at the Claiborne Lock and Dam in Monroe County, and we’ve been working up (river) ever since,” McIntosh said. “We’re currently at Gunter Hill Campground near Montgomery. We are at the tail end of the contract, but we will probably hit a couple of other places we skipped to get to Gunter Hill.”
Along the way there was dredging at Roland Cooper State Park and around Bridgeport Landing. Then it was the mouth of the Selma Marina. McIntosh emphasized this dredging has nothing to do with the renovations and extensive dredging that will happen at Selma Marina starting sometime in October.
“This (work) was part of our small boat access channel permit,” he said. “We were able to dredge out just the mouth. We did not go into the Selma Marina basin.”
The major renovation of Selma Marina using $322,000 in grants, donations and city funds is set to start in October.
