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Williams: No JEDD at Liberty Wal-Mart
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
Youngstown approved a water site plan for the Liberty Wal-Mart.
YOUNGSTOWN — While Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams wants a joint economic development district with Liberty at the site of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, the city will do absolutely nothing to impede the project.
Liberty trustees made it clear at a Tuesday meeting with Youngstown that they had no interest in a JEDD, which would include an income tax on employees, at the Wal-Mart location at the former Liberty Plaza on Belmont Avenue.
“Our questions were answered, and our issues were resolved,” Williams said Thursday. “...There will not be a JEDD at Wal-Mart. We want to move the project forward. We could have chosen to make an issue of the Wal-Mart JEDD. We did not. It was always our goal for the project to succeed.”
The city approved a water site plan Wednesday for the Liberty Wal-Mart project that is needed for the project to proceed, said John Casciano, Youngstown’s water commissioner. The city also has to approve a water tap application for Wal-Mart once the company submits one, but giving the go-ahead to that application is merely a formality, Casciano said.
The city never had any intention of refusing to sell its water to Wal-Mart and merely wanted to explore the possibility of a JEDD with Liberty on that property, Williams said.
“We’re always going to broach that discussion” of a JEDD, he said. “Talk of withholding water and litigation wasn’t generated by us.”
Youngstown had proposed a 2 percent income tax on those who work at Wal-Mart to be used to improve Belmont Avenue for future development of property.
Even though the Wal-Mart plan didn’t work out, Williams and township officials say they are interested in discussing other JEDD proposals in Liberty.
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins sent letters July 17 and Tuesday to Williams stating that the city has a long-term agreement with the county, which owns the lines, to provide water to Liberty, and there is no room for negotiations or for the city to cut off the water supply.
Williams said he respects Watkins’ legal opinion, but the city has a legal department that also interpreted the city’s water deal with the county to provide water to Liberty. The mayor wouldn’t give specifics on any differing interpretations.
Williams also added that Watkins’ legal opinion played no factor in the city’s decision not to push for a JEDD.
City Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello declined to comment on the issue Thursday.
Jeffrey D. Adler, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor who’s handling this issue for the office, said he is pleased with Williams’ decision to provide water to the Wal-Mart location.
“The mayor said he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the project,” Adler said. “The project is economically beneficial with or without the JEDD” to Liberty and Youngstown.
skolnick@vindy.com