City seeks more time for testing

If the EPA approves, it would be the second grant extension for Girard.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Mayor James J. Melfi is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a two-year extension to use a $200,000 grant to test brownfield sites.
The city obtained the grant four years ago and received an initial two-year extension to test the former Ohio Leather Works property on U.S. Route 422 for environmental hazards.
The city has been attempting to gain ownership of the 27-acre Leather Works property from Leatherworks Partnership through foreclosure. The city wants to use the land for commercial development.
In the courts
The case has been bouncing around the courts since 1996. As the result of a 1995 fire on the site, the city says Leatherworks Partnership owes the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in zoning violation fines.
Ohio Leather Works ceased operating its tannery business in 1971 and the site is a brownfield.
Because of the lack of progress in the lawsuit, Melfi told the EPA that he has been making contact with several other brownfield owners who want to use the grant.
"Currently, the city of Girard is discussing the possible redevelopment of a current brownfield site with a new business to our city," the mayor wrote the EPA.
Although not being specific in his letter, Melfi said the owner of the 80-acre former A.M. Byers Steel Co. that closed in 1939 may be interested. It's located on the east side of the Mahoning River and west of State Street (Route 422).
Melfi explained Friday that if the owner of the former steel company sells the property to a metal processor that is interested and jobs would be created, then the grant may be used there.
The mayor said that it's difficult to use the grant on some sites because the owners can't be found or the owners don't want their properties tested.
Owners must pay
If contaminants are found on the property, the mayor added, the owner is responsible to pay the cleanup cost.
That's what happened at the Leather Works. Initially, Leatherworks Partnership favored using the grant for environmental testing, but became concerned about the possible cleanup costs, the mayor explained.
"It's a difficult process," Melfi asserted, characterizing it as frustrating.
"Obviously, these opportunities are vital to a city during these most difficult economic times," Melfi wrote the EPA.
The mayor also asked the agency that if the city can't find a site within its boundaries in six months, could the money be turned over to the Trumbull County Planning Commission for use outside the city but within the county.
yovich@vindy.com