Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon gets land donation for lake

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was scheduled to officially give the acreage involved in what was Big Timber Lake, south of Gurdon, to the city on Monday morning at City Hall.

The long-term fishing site was also known as Gurdon Pond, number two, and is located between Gurdon and Bierne.

Local businessman Tommy Potter, who has been advocating the reactivation of this lake for more than a decade, said it involved 56 acres, that is 227 acre/feet of water, when it was drained in 1990. The lake had existed as a local fishing and recreation site since about 1930. Potter said it was drained by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission with the intention of strengthening the levy for safety and refilling it, plus adding a control gate for maintenance reasons, but the project was delayed in committee because of funding problems.

Mayor Clayton Franklin said Thursday, "The Game and Fish Commission has been trying to get the pond active for sometime, but they ran out of money to do so.

"State Representative Tommy Roebuck has been instrumental in the solution. The Game and Fish Commission will give the property to Gurdon, with the hopes we can find the money through grants to get it back into a lake for a good back-up water supply (for drinking or fire fighting), or to help future industry  in case our wells could not supply necessary water for added industrial needs."

The mayor said Arkansas Game and Fish could not get the funding for this lake through in the past because of there already being a public fishing lake in Gurdon (next to the city park on Highway 67). However, Game and Fish has offered to manage Big Timber Lake once it becomes active again. Franklin said Loren Hitchcock, of the Game and Fish Commission in Little Rock, has been the spokesman concerning this project.

The property had been given to the Game and Fish by International Paper. Franklin said Clark County Judge Ron Daniell has offered to create and maintain an access road to the future lake. Franklin also noted Arkansas Soil and Water Commission will be involved in making sure the levy is safe.

"A lot of people have expressed an interest in getting this lake going again," Franklin said. "We have hopes of finding the money to do so, as based on it being good for the city of Gurdon, but right now we have no money for this project. It is all in the talking stage, other than the fact that Game and Fish is giving it to Gurdon."

By way of background, Potter, who said he believes the return of Big Timber Lake "could do nothing but help the future of Gurdon," noted access can be gained to the site down South Front Street, about 2.5 miles from Main Street.

"The actual plot of land, counting what was the lake and around it, is approximately 90 acres," he said. "This would give us an added water supply for drinking or fire supplies in the future, and be a great place for recreation groups to have church camps, Boy Scout camps and more. It would be important to maintain the integrity of the lake so it could be used for generations to come."

Potter said he has discussed plans with numerous Arkansas politicians concerning this lake since its drainage. One recurring plan is to use the top soil from the future lake bottom to reinforce the levy, which would create a relatively inexpensive way to meet safety requirements and expand the new body of water to approximately 564 acre/feet.

"We are talking about a $300,000 to $500,000 project, once everything is said and done. This includes such things as building a ramp, reinforcing the levy for lasting safety in the future, and rebuilding or refurbishing the spin-way," Potter added. "I believe the Game and Fish giving this land to Gurdon is a big step in the right direction to setting us in line to apply for grants to ultimately fund the project where it benefits the most people possible in our city's future. With Gurdon owning the property, we have an in-kind bargaining tool when applying for grant funding."

Potter said Big Timber Lake was fed from Caney Creek in the past and its recreation would help control local flooding problems from that creek. The planned entrance to the project would cause increased traffic on Front Street and Go-Devil Road, but is seven tenths of a mile from the nearest Gurdon resident.

He said the lake plot is next to 1,500 acres used as a deer hunting lease, but an added water source should help the deer and the camp's success.