The City of Ironton will take another look at grant funding for dredging the opening of Storms Creek into the Ohio River next year after a recent application was denied.

Tuesday, August 08, 2000

The City of Ironton will take another look at grant funding for dredging the opening of Storms Creek into the Ohio River next year after a recent application was denied.

City officials requested a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that would provide money for the removal of silt that has settled at the mouth of the creek.

"We applied for an ODNR grant last year that will enable us to enhance riverfront projects we are currently working on," Mayor Bob Cleary said. "We were able to secure funding from those grants last year. Because of the amount of applicants and the limited amount of grant money that was available this year, we feel other communities probably had stronger points to be awarded grant money."

He said grants are not typically awarded to the same city for a second year if there are several applicants in need of additional funding.

"In a the letter we received from ODNR notifying us of the denial, they reported over 70 applicants that were requesting approximately $16 million in grants," Cleary said. "It is rare that a city could get funding two years in a row. We decided to try it because we felt we had just reason to at least try for it."

The bottom of Storms Creek has built up with sediments over the years creating difficult entry situations for boats attempting to enter the channel, he said.

"The opening of Storms Creek is only about three or four feet," he said. "As of right now, there is no way possible a big boat could enter the creek from the river and dock at the boat docks down there. We will be applying for ODNR funding next year for river-related recreational projects. We definitely need to dredge Storms Creek but we are at a stand-still until we can receive the funding needed for the project. The city just doesn’t have the money from its revenues to fund the project."