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City gets funds to clean concrete-company site
Youngstown first sought money for the YBM Corp. cleanup six years ago.
YOUNGSTOWN — The state is giving $854,935 to the city for the remediation and demolition of a manufacturing facility on the North Side closed since 1989.
The city first sought state money six years ago for the cleanup of YBM Corp., a ready-mix concrete company that was previously known as Youngstown Building Material and Fuel Co.
“Anytime you can get money for a site that large, it’s great,” said city Finance Director David Bozanich. “It’s been an eyesore for so many years.”
The money comes from the state’s Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund.
It was among seven projects statewide to receive approval for money from this fund Wednesday, according to an announcement from Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who heads the Ohio Department of Development.
The $854,935 from the state will be enough to cover the entire remediation and demolition expenses related to the YBM site, Bozanich said.
The project should start within the next few months. The building is on Logan Avenue and Hubbard Road.
The city took ownership of the abandoned property in 2002.
After remediation and demolition of the four buildings and a number of smaller concrete structures at the location, the city plans to plant grass there, Bozanich said.
The city has wanted to turn the property, about 91‚Ñ2 acres, into a site for light industrial use for years. That option is still on the table, but the city needs a company interested in using the property for that purpose.
The city received $176,248 from the state fund in 2006 for ground-water and soil testing at the closed plant.
skolnick@vindy.com