vidalia — Travelers wishing to see Vidalia will soon have an opportunity to get to the city the old-fashioned way — by boat.

The city is planning to construct a marina facility that will provide river travelers a place to dock their boats and walk into town. The Vidalia Board of Aldermen accepted a $325,270 bid to begin work on the marina project at Tuesday evening’s meeting. The initial construction will consist of enlarging the existing boat ramp and adding lighting.

“The main thing this will do is bring traffic to Vidalia,” Mayor Hyram Copeland said. “There’s nowhere between Vicksburg and Baton Rouge where you can dock a boat and come into town.”

The city obtained $246,000 in grant funds for the project and the remaining $79,270 will come from the Holiday Inn lease money, Copeland said.

The city is looking into adding fueling services at the marina facility, and Copeland said the board would begin checking with the Environment Protection Agency and the Department of Environment Quality about the regulations associated with a fueling station on the river.

In other business, Alderman Ricky Knapp brought the issue of political signs on public property to the board’s attention. Knapp said he expected the board to vote on a resolution at their next meeting that would ban the placement of political signs on public property before the candidates’ qualifying date.