Times Observer file photos Future visions for the riverfront took a step forward this week with a $95,000 grant from the Fish & Boat Commission award for design of a proposed downtown boat launch.

It will be several months before the results of a Build Back Better Regional Challenge proposal — which will fund much of the city’s proposed riverfront development — is successful.

But a piece of that puzzle fell into place last week in the form of a $95,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission for some of the “soft costs” — design and engineering — of a proposed downtown boat launch.

The City of Warren requested $95,000 and that was the amount awarded by the commission.

Mike Parker, Fish & Boat communications director, said the agency’s executive director, Timothy Schaeffer, has the authority to approve requests such as this that total less than $100,000.

“The proposed facility will include a single lane concrete boat launch ramp, dock and gangway to provide access for motorized and non-motorized boats, access road and parking area, concrete sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, and signage,” according to a project description document that announced the awards.

“Matching funds for the project have been secured through the City of Warren in the amount of $190,000.

City Manager Nancy Freenock wasn’t sure when the funding would be available but said the award will go before the Warren City Council.

The council would need to formally approve a grant agreement with the commission.

“The closest public boat launch facility is located 4.7 miles downstream at the Commission’s Starbrick Access,” the description states. “There are no motorized boat launches upstream to the Kinzua Reservoir.”

The city has invested $2 million in the project — $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Funds as well as $1.5 million in state grant funding.

That $2 million is the match requirement for the Build Back Better effort.

Mayor Dave Wortman said at the February council meeting that the contribution is “earnest money, saying we’re behind this project.”

Other grant initiatives, such as one that would help offset the cost of land acquisition behind the HIY building and the concrete pad adjacent to the townhouses, is pending.

According to a statement from the Fish & Boat Commission, the funding for the Boating Facility Grant program is “derived primarily from boat registration fees, state motorboat fuels tax and restricted revenue, if applicable.”