Officials are working to bring a recreational area to Lewis County.
The recreational area, which will be near the Grayson spur on Kinniconick Creek, will feature a campground, hiking, fishing, boating, canoeing, and swimming, according to Lewis County Judge-Executive Todd Ruckel.
"I think it's something we really need to do. It will give the people of the county a place to go and enjoy themselves, and it will help bring in tourism,” said Ruckel.
Ruckel said there will be full hookup for campers and he hopes to bring ATV trails to the area in the near future.
"We've had a lot of questions about ATV trails in the area. It's something we are looking into doing at this area. It's definitely a possibility,” added Ruckel.
Ruckel said the land comes from the FEMA buyout project. A few years ago, FEMA purchased flooded lands and turned that land over to the county.
"The land can't be sold and no permanent structures can be placed on it. Other places are turning their buyout properties into recreational areas, and we thought it would be perfect to do here,” commented Ruckel.
The funding for the recreational area will be a 50/50 matching grant from the Department of Local Government Land and Conservation Fund. The DLG half will be $75,000.
Ruckel said he hopes to be able to use in-kind labor, saved money and their own property usage as the other half of the grant.
"We're excited to be doing something like this. It's something we need in this county and I think it will help us tremendously,” added Ruckel.
The campground is not the only recreational project Ruckel has been working on. A trail project is already in the works. Ruckel said he has spoken with several people about property usage, as well as looking into using FEMA buyout land.
"We have spoken with one person who has about 30,000 acres of land, and others who have land that we may be able to use. We also have FEMA buyout land that can't be sold or have permanent structures placed on, but we may be able to use it for something like this,” said Ruckel.
The trails will be for hiking or horseback riding. According to Ruckel, the project would cost approximately $100,000 to complete.
Lewis County Fiscal Court recently approved a resolution which will allow Ruckel to apply for a grant to help fund the costs of the project.
"It would be a 50 percent grant. It would pay $50,000 and the other portion of it would be paid by us, most likely by using county or donated land, our own trucks and labor,” said Ruckel.
The grant would be through the Department of Local Government's Recreational Trails Program, according to the resolution.
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