&#8220Everyone is pulling together.”

That's the way Lawrence County Commissioner Doug Malone described action Thursday to boost an economic development project in the works for the county's eastern end.

The Lawrence County Commission Thursday gave its stamp of approval to a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan for the proposed RiverWalk project in Union Township.

This is one of the most recent steps taken to ensure the fruition of - and funding for - a multi-million-dollar project to turn land along the Ohio River in Union Township into a retirement community geared toward the boating community.

Last week, the Fairland School District gave its approval to the TIF plan.

The resolution creates a specific district - parcels of land between Indian Guyan Creek and the 31st Street Bridge - that is subject to tax incremental funding.

Under the TIF guidelines, governmental entities that normally receive taxes from the property owners within the TIF district would only receive a portion of what they would normally get. The rest of the tax money is placed in a fund that can be used to pay for infrastructure within the TIF district, either as matching funds for grants and loans or to use to obtain bonds. It creates a revenue stream for long-term development.

&#8220The tool we're using, everyone comes out a winner, everyone gives a little bit,” Ironton Lawrence County Community Action Organization Assistant Director Ralph Kline said.

The district is established for 30 years. It affects only new development. Existing developments are not subject to TIF legislation.

&#8220This is the first time we've done a TIF and we've had a bit of a learning curve. But I think this is a tool that will be very beneficial for this project and hopefully other projects in the future,” Commissioner Jason Stephens said.

Kline said he expects to submit the final TIF master plan to the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Department of Taxation within the next week.

&#8220As to the next steps, we're working with Superior Marine and other developers, we're working through some permitting issues and some wetland mitigation issues,” he said.

The RiverWalk project, estimated to cost anywhere from $108 million to $130 million, will take underdeveloped or undeveloped land along the Ohio River in Union Township and turn it into a 385-slip marina, retirement lakeside cottages, a wellness center, an assisted living facility, luxury condos, shops and industry geared to the boating/marina sector.

Once it is all completed, RiverWalk may create as many as 711 permanent new jobs within the planned businesses of RiverWalk and 179 new jobs within the area's existing businesses.

&#8220There is a lot of activity in Lawrence County, with RiverWalk and different things,” Malone said. &#8220And it's because everyone is pulling together- the schools, the commission, the CAO, the port authorities in the county and Ironton, that's what makes this a success, everyone pulling in the same direction.”