TRUMBULL COUNTY Fabricating facility to land abatement

Business would pay $100,000 to school board and $25,000 to township for 15 years.
WARREN -- Warren Fabricating's plans for expanding its Hubbard Township facility are a big deal for Trumbull County's enterprise zone.
"This is the biggest incentive ever offered a company -- 15 years, 100 percent," said Alan Knapp, county planning commission director, of the enterprise zone agreement county commissioners are expected to approve today.
The company pledges to hire 100 additional employees within three years of the project's completion at 7845 Chestnut Ridge Road, he said. The company could lose its tax abatement if it doesn't perform.
The total project is expected to cost between $200 million and $210 million, according to documents on file with the county. This entails $9.3 million to $10 million in additions and new construction; $116 million to $120 million in new machinery and equipment; and $75 million to $80 million in additional inventory.
"This would be the third-biggest investment ever in our enterprise zone program," Knapp said.
In lieu of taxes, Warren Fabricating would make annual payments for 15 years of $100,000 to the Hubbard board of education and $25,000 to Hubbard Township. Both the township and the school district have approved the arrangement.
The company fabricates steel for heavy industry and intends to begin construction of a 540,000-square-foot manufacturing facility April 1. Other business plans include improving the rail system used to transport goods.
Other business
In other business today, commissioners planned to extend for another three months the agreement with Thomas Fok & amp; Associates Ltd., Warren, to perform Class I building inspector duties. This involves signing off on construction plan reviews and occupancy inspections for commercial buildings for the Trumbull County Building Inspection Department.
Fok & amp; Associates is paid $55 hourly for a total amount not to exceed $7,000. Commissioners in January retained Fok's services after the retirement of inspector Peter Marchese, and the inability to find someone with the proper licensing to take the job on a permanent basis.