By AP
Washington, D.C. – A contributor to Congressman Hal Rogers' campaign is getting a half million dollars from this year's federal budget to build a parking lot for his private resort on Lake Cumberland.
Representative Rogers has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to assist J. D. Hamilton, who bought the Lee's Ford Marina Resort in 2003 and is promising to make sweeping improvements.
The Corps oversees most projects at Lake Cumberland, which the federal government created in 1952. But the corps' operations manager at Lake Cumberland says public funds are not usually used to improve private businesses.
Tom Hale says he's working with Hamilton on designs for a hilltop lot to provide more than 200 parking spaces.