Despite row, parties want Wal-Mart

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

A Wal-Mart spokesman says the company is going forward to get bids for the Liberty store.

LIBERTY — Many are fearful that a dispute over hiring practices and water concerns may wash away any hopes of a Wal-Mart Supercenter here, but the company and all political factions involved want to see the project through.

Township officials say Wal-Mart representatives have expressed concern over moving forward with plans to build the store on Belmont Avenue because of a stipulation in Youngstown’s contract for water services requiring the retailer to hire 25 percent of its employees from the city.

Trustee Jodi Stoyak and Township Administrator Pat Ungaro both said the company may put the project on hold for an extended period or pull out of the project altogether.

Wal-Mart spokesman Jason Wetzel said the company is dedicated to bringing the store to Liberty Township, but must work with the city to come to an understanding on some issues in the water contract.

He would not specify what issues are being addressed. Meanwhile, the search for a company to build the store continues.

“We are going forward with collecting bids [for construction] at this time, and our goal is to see this project come to fruition,” Wetzel said.

At the heart of the matter is a section of the commercial water application redacted by Wal-Mart that says, among other things, that “25 percent of said jobs shall be filled with residents of Youngstown.”

The issue could be quickly resolved if Wal-Mart would fill out the application to the satisfaction of Youngstown like any other customer would be required to do, said Mayor Jay Williams.

Williams said the policy has been in effect for more than 20 years — implemented when Pat Ungaro, now Liberty Township’s administrator, was mayor.

Ungaro has said the current wording of the contract does not reflect his feelings. He said he believes the contract called for the hiring of 25 percent from Youngstown “or the company’s best effort” at doing so when he was mayor.

“I emphasized the 25 percent effort everywhere I went. When I was involved with the Austintown Wal-Mart in 1994, they were thrilled to death to sign that [contract] — if it’s the exact same thing. All I can say is what wasn’t an issue in 1994 is an issue now. Times change and we need to deal with this issue now,” he said.

Ungaro said it would be in the best interest of the city, and the surrounding communities, to work with the company to get the project moving even if that means to forgo the hiring stipulation.

“For the past 20-plus years it’s been part of the standard application, and we haven’t had one issue,” Williams said.

The mayor said the city works with companies to make a “best effort” to reach the 25 percent level.

“We’re willing to sit down with [Wal-Mart] and if they have a better idea, we’re open for better ideas,” Williams said. “I never close the door ... But for people to believe the city should roll over for Wal-Mart is unconscionable.”

While Liberty officials have discussed this project for years with Wal-Mart, Williams said it was only last week that Ungaro brought up the hiring policy, asking if it had changed. It hasn’t.

“You would have thought this would come up in conversations” before last week, if it was going to be a problem, Williams added.

If the project somehow doesn’t move forward, “it’s not our fault,” Williams said. Ungaro should have mentioned it to Wal-Mart years ago, Williams said.

One Trumbull County commissioner says Williams’ latest involvement in the development of the Wal-Mart seems like “silly games.”

Commissioner Frank Fuda said Wednesday the requirement to hire 25 percent of the workers from Youngstown has him wondering if water to the area can be routed through a different provider.

Fuda said he will talk to Girard officials in the coming days to see whether that city can take over the delivery of water to the area of Liberty on Belmont Avenue north to Interstate 80 to avoid having conflicts with Youngstown.

Jeff Adler, the assistant Trumbull County prosecutor who helped Liberty officials navigate the legal issues surrounding the city’s desire to form a joint economic development district that would involve income taxes going to Youngstown, said he finds the mayor’s most recent remarks confusing.

“Mayor Williams said the city of Youngstown would do nothing to hold up the project,” Adler said of a public meeting where Williams spoke.

Adler said he learned of the most recent issue in the past couple days and hasn’t been asked to assist the township with this matter.

Stoyak also said the city should work toward seeing the project to its completion.

“The major point is that Mayor Williams was here at our meeting and said he was not going to do anything to halt this project,” she said. “They [the city] will do nothing but hurt themselves by seeing this project end.”

jgoodwin@vindy.com

XCONTRIBUTORS: Vindicator staff writers David Skolnick and Ed Runyan