T-L Photo/SHELLEY HANSON SHOWN HERE are the docks at the Bellaire Marina. The marina offers a concrete boat slip area for people to gain access to the Ohio River.

BELLAIRE — Village Administrator Mike Wallace wants to help spruce up the city property around the Bellaire Marina to make it more pleasant for people visiting the area.

During a recent Bellaire Village Council meeting, Wallace said he wanted to improve the road, Jefferson Avenue, leading to the marina. This is the same road used to reach the village water treatment plant.

“Those river weeds that grow behind the water plant, you cut them down and throw acid on them and they’re back in two weeks,” he said.

“I would like to get that area cleaned up and the marina cleaned up. We have some picnic tables and benches coming through the CARES Act,” he said.

Wallace noted Friday the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act permits municipalities to replace furniture that is porous, such as cloth-covered chairs, wooden benches and picnic tables, with items that are non-porous and made of synthetic materials that are easy to clean. Wooden benches and tables, he noted, are porous and can hold germs more easily and are harder to clean.

Thanks to CARES Act money, the village has already replaced carpet inside council chambers with synthetic flooring, along with its cloth-covered chairs with those covered with faux leather. Seating in the gallery was already made of plastic and metal and did not need to be replaced.

“And the area between the current shelter and the guardrail that starts over to the launch ramp is tapered. For about $10 per ton we can put cement grindings there and level it out and put some picnic benches or tables in and have a nice scenic view up there, and get more use out of the boat launch ramp,” he added.

And if the village has enough money to do it, Wallace said he also would like to tar and chip the road.

“The way it is now you either get mud on your car or nothing but dust,” he said.

Wallace said there are many people who use the road each day, especially to access the JB Green Team recycling receptacles located near one of the village maintenance buildings.

He noted he would also like to have new security cameras installed on the water plant to allow police officers to keep an eye on the area via their smart phones.

Thanks to a grant from JB Green Team, Wallace said the village was able to purchase new signs to direct people to the bins, water plant and marina area.

“We still have a lot of work to go. It’s a work in progress,” he said. “We would like to make it more user-friendly.”

Both the marina and docks attached to it belong to the village of Bellaire.