MAHONING RIVER Corps seeks new partner for project

The port authority could be liable if something goes wrong.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- The Western Reserve Port Authority has been asked to become lead local partner in a $100 million plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Mahoning River.
The port authority, which runs the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, would become responsible for raising roughly $35 million that will not be covered by the federal government, and for buying 13 riverside sites needed for the dredging project.
The port authority could benefit by leasing these sites after dredging is complete, said Carmen Rozzi, project manager with the corps.
The authority also would be responsible for maintenance on the river after the project is complete and be liable for potential cost overruns and problems, said Atty. Paul Shapiro, a lawyer with the corps.
Officials with the corps and Eastgate Regional Council of Governments asked the port authority Wednesday to take on the project. They said they would like a decision by summer.
"Personally, I think the project is phenomenal," said port authority chairman Bill Reali. "I think it is one of the things we should do."
The plan
A proposal to dredge contaminated soil and remove dams from Leavittsburg to the Pennsylvania line in Trumbull and Mahoning counties has been under study since 1998. A $3 million feasibility study on the project is expected to be completed around the end of next year, Rozzi said.
The next step will be $13 million worth of engineering, he said. Work, in phases, could begin in 2007 and conclude in 2017.
"I think that once you get the shovel in the water, you are going to get a lot of momentum going," Rozzi said.
Project supporters say a clean Mahoning River could spur business and recreation along its banks.
Locally, the project has been pushed along with grass-roots support from the Mahoning River Consortium and technical assistance from Eastgate.
If the port authority takes the project on, it could contract with Eastgate to provide personnel or services.
Local partner
On projects of this type, the corps is required to have a local partner with the power to both put on taxes and take land by eminent domain, Shapiro said.
The port authority is the only body that has these powers in both Trumbull and Mahoning counties.
To come up with the $35 million local contribution, the port authority could seek state grants, solicit money from county commissioners, or search out other funding sources, like revenue from a special Mahoning River license plate.
Signatures were being collected Wednesday for a license plate celebrating the Mahoning River, said Kim Mascarella, Eastgate's director of environmental planning.
siff@vindy.com