MAHONING COUNTY Vote expected today on airport funds

Two commissioners favor an effort to market the airport, but one is against it.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners were expected to dole out nearly $1.5 million today to nonmandated agencies and programs.
The big-ticket item on the list is a $454,263 contribution to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, with the same amount to be chipped in by Trumbull County.
The two counties are asked to kick in cash each year to help with the airport's operating budget and capital expenditures.
The money will also go toward providing a local match for federal grants, said Thomas P. Nolan, director of aviation.
Opposition: Commissioner David Ludt said he will probably vote against the contribution because part of it will help pay GPC International, based in Canada.
The public relations firm was hired by the Western Reserve Port Authority in March to market the airport, but Ludt opposes the marketing effort.
"I don't think the airport is ever going to be successful as a [passenger] carrier," Ludt said. "It's good as a cargo hub, but not passenger service."
Commissioners Ed Reese and Vicki Allen Sherlock said they'll vote for the funding and they support the marketing.
"I think it can be a combination of both cargo and carrier," Reese said
Landing a passenger carrier to set up base in the airport would help pay for the "day-to-day, nuts and bolts operation" of the airport, Reese said.
Sherlock said commissioners want the airport to be the focal point of economic development in the region.
"I think it's important to explore all options out there," she said.
Among other agencies to be funded are the Ohio State University Extension Agency, $300,000; Federal Emergency Management Agency, $255,000; Mahoning County Area On Aging, $141,500; and the county Soil & amp; Water Conservation Agency, $95,000.
About $680,000 of the funding will come from a 0.5 percent sales tax approved by voters in 1999, with the rest from other general fund revenue sources.
Disaster shelter: Springfield Township will receive $50,000 from the sales tax to help build a disaster shelter at the new township administration building, Sherlock said.
She said there is a trailer park near the new building and those homes have no place to go to in the event of a tornado or other severe weather emergency. When the new building is completed, they will be able to go there, she said.
When voters reinstated the sales tax, commissioners pledged to set aside 5 percent of the total revenue each year for agencies like the extension agency, Soil and Water, disaster services, a summer food program and the Community Housing Improvement Program.
In the past, those agencies were among the first to be cut when the county came upon financial hard times. This way, they are assured of being funded while the tax is in place.