NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – North Myrtle Beach City Council passed the second and final reading of an ordinance Wednesday to move forward with the financing of the Cherry Grove dredging project.

City spokesperson Pat Dowling says the city will start taking bids from qualified dredging companies on Friday, July 8th, award a contract on August 1st, and the project will begin on October 1st.

Dowling says those days are subject to change.

Mayor Marilyn Hatley says the process hasn’t been easy.

“We did have people who rejected or wanted to reject the cost of the project, but then we had a lot of people who supported it and realized that the only way that the project was actually going to happen was for all of us to share the financing,” said Hatley.

Hatley says the city has been working for more than 15 years on the dredging project in Cherry Grove, and they’re excited to finally see it begin.