V&M tentative deal reached

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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams

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Girard Mayor James Melfi

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U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles

Details of the agreement still must be worked out, Mayor Williams said.

YOUNGSTOWN — No details were divulged, but leaders of Girard and Youngstown have reached a tentative agreement on a proposed $970 million expansion of V&M Star Steel, officials said.

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, Girard Mayor James Melfi, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17, and members of both mayors’ staffs reached the agreement at a 31‚Ñ2-hour meeting Monday, Williams said.

“The details still have to be ironed out,” he said.

“We’ve reached an agreement in principle,” Ryan said.

Melfi couldn’t be reached to comment.

The two cities already are discussing some of those details, and Williams doesn’t believe additional formal meetings between the two cities’ mayors will be needed. He expects a complete agreement to be in place by Friday.

That’s the deadline set by the company. V&M officials have said that if the two cities couldn’t reach agreement by Friday, the company would look elsewhere for its roughly $970 million expansion.

At issue has been about 80 acres in Girard purchased by Youngstown for about $5 million. Youngstown and company officials have said that the deal hinges on that property’s becoming part of Youngstown.

Melfi had said that he wanted the land to stay in his city.

If the expansion goes through, V&M plans to hire about 400 people at annual pay rates ranging between $60,000 and $70,000.

V&M is considering expansion near its Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard location in Youngstown on the border between the two cities. Nearly all the property for the expansion is in Girard.

A final decision by the company is expected late this year.

If the expansion happens, the two cities would split a 2.75 percent income tax imposed on those working at the company as well as a profit tax of the same percentage from the company, officials have said.

Each city would get about $1 million annually.

All property taxes on the land would go to Girard schools.

It would cost at least $5 million to clean up the 80 acres, Williams said.

V&M is a maker of steel pipe.