The Village of Coal Grove has got the money and is getting ready to start making improvements on its riverfront dock.

“The Capital Budget money the Tribune reported on earlier in this year has been deposited in the Coal Grove bank account,” said Mayor Andy Holmes.” So we are in possession of the received $1.25 million for our riverfront upgrades.”

He said while there are riverfront projects going on in Rome, South Point and Ironton, their funds came from a different source.

“Although we are all going to be doing riverfront upgrades, Coal Grove is the only municipality to get money from the Capital Budget in order to get those upgrades done,” Holmes said. “While we will still treat this money like a grant and still do the bidding process and pay the prevailing wages, there will not be as many strings attached.”

He said he is in the process of putting a steering committee together, which will consist of Coal Grove citizens and village council members.

“We will use that steering committee to scope out the work to best utilize that $1.25 million,” Holmes said. “The community should start looking to see things changing over there once the weather breaks.”

He said one of the biggest priorities with the money is to pave the access road.

“Currently, our dock has a gravel road to it, but we are going to fix that. That is going to be Phase I,” Holmes said. “So we are excited about that.”

He said that the project is all about making it easier for people to haul their boats down to the dock.

“We are fortunate enough to have what many boaters will tell you is the nicest boat ramp in the Tri-State area,” Holmes said. “They guage that by how easy it is to get their boat in and out of that slip. According to most boaters, nobody has better infrastructure than Coal Grove at the water’s edge. However, we have a lot to be desired on how to get there. That’s what this money is for, to fix that.”

He said that during boating season it isn’t uncommon to see a $75,000 truck hauling a $100,000 boat parked at the Freezette or at Giovanni’s or the Speedway.

“They deserve a paved road,” Holmes said. “They are coming into our community, they are buying gas, buying lunch here. It is the least we can do.”