OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — The Oil City Marina Project was discussed at Thursday night’s city council meeting.

The long-anticipated marina project took another step forward when the council agreed to a professional services contract with Mackin Engineering Company of Pittsburgh to perform design and engineering services at a cost of $18,600.00, which is considerably less than the original proposal of around $30,000.00.

According to Kelly Amos, Director of Community Development for the city, the overall scope of the project is to enhance the marina trailhead as part of the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail and to build five primitive campsites at the marina.

The gap in the trail has already been opened up and will be improved as part of the project, which, after the design work is back and everything else is taken care, could start in the Spring of 2019, according to Amos.

The plan for the five campgrounds will include a fire ring, bike racks, and a picnic table at each with one of the sites being ADA accessible.

The total cost of the project is $124,000.00. Currently, the city has acquired a pair of grants to help cover the cost including a $62,000.00 C2PS Grant from DCNR and a $25,000.00 grant through the PNC Charitable Trust that was secured by the Oil Region Alliance.