SHARON Redevelopment is still possible

City council voted to create an industrial development authority to go after funds for the Westinghouse project.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- James E. Winner Jr. hasn't given up on his efforts to secure a $7 million state grant to redevelop the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. plant on Sharpsville Avenue, and he wants the city to help get that money.
Winner asked city council Thursday to create an industrial development authority to serve as the conduit for those funds.
The money comes from the state capital budget fund, and although individuals and developers can't tap it, development agencies can.
The state earmarked $7 million for the Westinghouse project and Winner, through Winner Development LLC, signed a contract with the Mercer County Industrial Development Authority to handle the grant paperwork.
Problems
Winner bought the plant, which closed in 1985, for $500,000 in 1999 and announced plans for a $77 million industrial park project that would create as many as 1,000 jobs.
The state approved the grant in May 2000, but Winner was never able to get the funds released.
He said the problem rested with MCIDA, but MCIDA said it was Winner's failure to comply with state requests for project information that prevented the money's release.
Winner finally backed away from the grant earlier this year, saying he would change the project's scope. He and the MCIDA are in court battling over some $30,000 in administrative fees the MCIDA says he still owes.
Winner told lawmakers that the $7 million is still available and that his staff can prepare the grant documents, but he needs a local authority to be the actual recipient of the funds.
Council took the first step, passing the first of two required readings to create a Sharon Industrial Development Authority and Winner said he would pick up any costs associated with that.
Atty. William Madden, city solicitor, cautioned council that it would, in essence, be guaranteeing the repayment of the $7 million should the state decide it was spent improperly.
Winner pointed out that Mercer County already has offered that guarantee and similar action by the city might not be necessary. He said he would check with the county to see if its guarantee still stands.
Project
The state had said the $7 million grant was contingent upon the Westinghouse project having a total cost of at least $49 million.
Winner said he is hoping to get the $7 million with a much smaller investment, putting the price tag of the revised project at $18 million. The state has made no promises, he said.
The goal is to create an industrial park in the 800,000 square feet of indoor industrial space, he said, noting that a 160,000-square-foot office building isn't part of the plan at this time.
The project calls for a 148,000-square-foot addition to Winner Steel Services at the southern end of the property, completion of environmental cleanup inside the old plant, repairs to roofs, paving of drives and a parking lot, and installation of some cranes and one or two elevators.
He said he's also after a $1.25 million state loan for infrastructure improvements in the plant. That money would be paid back to Sharon's authority for use on other projects.
gwin@vindy.com