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Officials say Ironton riverfront project progressing; permitting delays push some work beyond 2025
Summary
Consultants and city staff reported progress on riverfront work but said U.S. Army Corps permits will delay dock and seawall work past the current construction season; ODNR-funded playground and volleyball courts can proceed under a limited approval.
Consultants and city staff told the Ironton City Council on Aug. 28 that the riverfront improvement project is advancing through environmental review and permitting but that federal permitting requirements will delay some work until next year.
Kevin Wood of IBI and other consultants reported that environmental reviews and permitting steps with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are underway. Work above the ordinary high-water mark — including a playground and volleyball courts funded by an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) grant — has been preapproved and can proceed, the consultants said, as long as the project avoids certain sensitive areas mentioned in the federal reviews. Wood and other staff said they expect the section-7 review (for work above the ordinary high-water mark) to be completed soon and that such approval would allow construction above the high-water mark during the remaining construction season.
Consultants said work on the dock and seawall below the ordinary high-water mark requires a U.S. Army Corps 408 permit because prior federal funds were used on shoreline protection; that 408 review includes a federally authorized review period of up to 120 days and will likely push any dock or seawall work to after Jan. 1. The project team said the 408 permitting process means any work below the ordinary high-water mark will not commence in the coming months and is likely to be scheduled for the next construction season.
City staff and consultants said they have bid the above-water portions using a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) approach and have an approved contractor ready to proceed on those components once permits and budget confirmations are in place. They said their goal is to complete the ODNR-funded playground and volleyball-court components by Dec. 31, 2025, to meet the ODNR grant schedule; staff also said the larger ACGP-funded components have a separate completion deadline the consultants referenced as Oct. 31 (2026 was cited in the meeting), and that those below-water tasks will be contingent on the Corps— 408-permit schedule.
Consultants and city staff said they are finalizing site plans and structural designs for the dock and seawall and that the U.S. Army Corps had advised that once it receives the required mussel survey/subconsultant report, the Corps will move toward issuing its section-7 permit for the above-water work. The consultants reported the mussel-relocation and survey work had been completed and that the mussel subconsultant would deliver a report to the Corps shortly.
Speakers repeatedly emphasized permitting as the key schedule risk. City staff and consultants acknowledged that the project lost part of a construction season because state funding awards were delayed, and they said the team is working to avoid further grant extensions.
No formal council action was reported on the riverfront item at the Aug. 28 meeting; the discussion was an informational update with invited guests from IBI and community partners.
