The village of Coal Grove just became $750,000 richer.

Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson announced Monday that three-quarters-of-a-million in Clean Ohio Assistance Funds have been awarded to the village for the remediation of the former Carlyle Tile property.

Johnson announced the project along with a $750,000 funding boost for a Cleveland project.

“This funding is designed to help communities to transform former distressed site into viable locations for future economic development,” Johnson said in a written statement.

“I’m confident that these efforts will lead to future economic and community investment that will result in the creation of good jobs for Ohioans in these counties.”

The 30.85-acre property is owned by McGinnis, Inc., which will create 53 new jobs at the site to support the business of barge-to-rail and barge-to-truck container shipments. The company will also pump $162,052 into the clean-up and make several improvements which should include dredging of the fleeting area and construction of a 52,000 square-foot building.

Coal Grove village clerk Deborah Fields said that spirits were running high with the village’s officials.

“Oh, we’re thrilled, it’s been a long time coming,” Fields said.

The next step for the village is just waiting. After between 10 and 14 days, Coal Grove will receive the grant application, which they must then sign to receive the money.

The funding would be not be used to remove the buildings on the property, but rather the materials containing asbestos from the site. It would also pay to remove the first two feet of soil in the area.

Fields said that the village and McGinnis were looking at an expected start time of May. It will be the end of a long road that Fields said that she has been on for the entire time she has worked at the village.

“Absolutely, it’s been going on the entire time I’ve been in office, and on April 1 that will have been two years and I know it’s been going on before that,” Fields said. “It’s been a long process, so we’re happy to see that some money is finally going to be coming into the village.”

Although most are happy with the progress, Fields said that there are a few that said they had probably spending their tax dollars on land that would be privately owned.

“We have had some people a little disgruntled that they as taxpayers have to pay for private property work because McGinnis owns it, but he’ll be contributing far more than this grant to take the building down,” Fields said. “The money’s going somewhere, it might as well come here. But other than that everybody’s really thrilled.”