Three Clermont County communities will receive more than $96,000 in NatureWorks grants that will pay for an area for skateboarders, erosion control on the Little Miami River and a picnic shelter.

        The NatureWorks grants are administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for recreation improvements. This is the seventh round of NatureWorks grants; close to $5 million is being awarded across the state in this round.

        Miami Township is using its $30,000 NatureWorks grant to pair with another $30,000 it has earmarked from the park levy fund for a skateboard area at Miami Meadows, a park off Ohio 131.

        The impetus for the skateboard area — which will be about the size of two tennis courts — came from youths in the township who attended a board of trustees meeting last year and told the trustees about their frustrations in not having a place to skateboard.

        “Everywhere they went they were essentially run out,” said Kim Laing, community relations coordinator for the township. “It was the skaters who said they got fed up with being chased. They said, give us a place to skate.”

        The skateboarders lobbied for an area and a committee was assigned. They all worked with a skateboard park design firm out of Athens.

        While the design is still being worked on, the area in Miami Meadows will have a synthetic surface, and will be “essentially a wooden park,” said Ms. Laing. “All the apparatus will be made of wood.”

        There is an option of expanding the skateboard area in the future.

        “There's a lot of interest in this park,” said Ms. Laing. “I'm sure we're talking hundreds of people who will use this.”

        She said work could begin later in the summer, and perhaps be completed by late summer.

        The city of Milford is getting a grant for close to $48,000 to help pay for erosion control on the east bank of the Little Miami river at Milford Park.

        Loretta Rokey, Milford city manager, said the problem is that the riverbank has been eroding at the rate of about 5 feet a year, eating away at the ballfield at the park.

        She said the river affects about 700 feet along the riverbank on the east side that borders the park. What the city has proposed is stabilizing the riverbank using bio-engineering techniques.

        “It's a national scenic river, so we need to be responsible with the way we handle that improvement,” said Ms. Rokey.

        The work will involve grading the riverbank into a more gentle slope and planting specific tree and plant species, like willows and dogwoods.

        “We hope to protect it from further erosion and maintain the river view,” said Ms. Rokey.

        The project could cost up to $122,000. The park is the location for the annual Frontier Days festival.

        The village of Moscow is getting a $19,000 grant to help pay for a picnic shelter at its Riverfront Park.

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