City to seek federal grant

The city would have to take temporary ownership of the land to secure a grant.
STRUTHERS -- The city plans to go after a $200,000 federal grant to help CASTLO clean up industrial park property off South Bridge Street.
The area has four or five old above-ground and below-ground fuel storage tanks that need to be removed as part of the brownfield redevelopment of the old steel mill area, said Mayor Daniel Mamula.
City council's annexation, zoning & amp; industrial business committee met Wednesday and approved a recommendation to have the city apply for a federal Environmental Protection Agency grant to do the work, said Councilman Paul Garchar Jr., committee chairman.
Securing the grant
Mamula said CASTLO, a community improvement corporation formed to redevelop industrial brownfields in Campbell, Struthers and Lowellville, owns the land but isn't eligible to apply for funding assistance through the grant program. However, the city can do it, he said.
To do that, the city would have to first take control of the land, he said.
Struthers could buy the property for $1, get the grant to remove the old tanks and do any required remediation work, then sell the land back to CASTLO for $1, the mayor said.
The project cost is estimated at $200,000 and that's what the city will seek from the EPA, he said.
City council is expected to consider the measure at its meeting Wednesday, Garcher said.
He doesn't anticipate any problem in getting council support. The city has a long working relationship with CASTLO, "And it's in our best interest for them to succeed," he said.