STAR CITY — The Star City Riverfront looks a little different than it did last week.
Volunteers from Dominion Energy and the Morgantown North Rotary Club knocked out two big improvement projects – installing riprap and staining a gazebo, picnic shelter, bench and dock.
Riprap is large loose stones that are placed at the bottom of a riverbank to stabilize it, explained Mary Wimmer, with Morgantown North Rotary. The rocks will extend about halfway up the bank and will prevent slippage, which has been a problem, she said.
Trees and vegetation will be planted on the top half of the embankment in the spring, Wimmer said.
Wimmer has been heavily involved in developing the city’s riverfront and said this is a “huge start” on making the riverfront better.
The first phase of the redevelopment plan was installing a new kayak launch, which happened last summer, Wimmer said.
That launch was how Dominion Energy first heard about the project. Wimmer said she asked the company to donate pilings, or supports, for the dock and Dominion Energy agreed.
Bob Orndorff, state policy director – West Virginia, said while he was on the phone with Wimmer to set up the installation of the pilings he asked if anything else needed to be done.
“I said there’s lots to do,” Wimmer told him.
Dominion Energy donated $2,500 for supplies and picked Star City’s riverfront as its annual fall volunteer day.
Spokesperson Samantha Norris said volunteers came in from as far as Utah to help out.
She said that Dominion Energy employees are invested in making a safe, more environmentally friendly and overall more vitalized community and that projects like Monday’s do all three.
Mayor Herman Reid said he’s thankful Dominion Energy picked Star City and its “hard-working people.”
He said the amount that got accomplished in just one day was impressive.
In fact, Orndorff said the work would be complete early.
