Clay County commissioners agree to publish Smithville Lake slip waiting list, study dock expansion

At a Clay County Commission meeting, commissioners agreed to post the Smithville Lake marina waiting list online, extend the response window when staff contacts people about openings, and direct parks staff to study dock expansion and the feasibility of replacing an uncovered dock.

The moves respond to repeated public complaints about long waits for boat slips at Camp Branch, Paradise Point and Sailboat Cove marinas at Smithville Lake and to requests for more transparency about how the waiting list is managed. Parks Director John Davis described the current inventory, renewal and relocation process and provided counts and revenue figures the department reported.

Davis said Camp Branch Marina has 212 leasable slips, Paradise Point Marina has 267 and Sailboat Cove holds 62 sailboats, for a total of a little over 500 slips countywide. He told commissioners the dock system currently produces roughly $1.036 million in annual slip revenue, and that a new 40-slip covered dock would cost in the neighborhood of $1.9 million (he said the structure itself was roughly $1.3 million, not including delivery, utilities and labor). “We…