Controlling Board releases funds for road project

By Marc Kovac

COLUMBUS — The state Controlling Board released $230,000 Monday for a road project in Jackson Township as part of an expansion of Republic Special Metals Inc.

The funds will be used to widen Bailey Road between Mahoning Avenue and Blott Road and storm sewer improvements, with the work providing access to the company’s rolling mill.

The company, in turn, has committed to creating 60 full-time jobs and retaining an additional 70 as part of a 205,000-square-foot addition to its manufacturing plant. The company operates on 109 acres near Interstate 76.

The road project will cost about $603,000, and Mahoning County has committed to funding the balance.

In other business, the Controlling Board released $750,000 for the demolition and cleanup of the Flats at Wick property in Youngstown.

The 1.2-acre site is located at 751 Elm St. north of Youngstown State University. The now-vacant property has been used for truck sales and service, cabinet works, electro-chemical plating and other industrial and commercial uses.

The site is slated to be developed into student housing, with 200-plus apartments, according to documents.

The cleanup activities will cost nearly $1.6 million, with U.S. Campus Suites, the site’s developer, paying the balance.

Also Monday:

UThe Controlling Board signed off on $75,000 requested by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to buy a property in Austintown Township.

The 6.5 acres are located at the southwest boundary of the existing township park and will provide an access drive and a grassland habitat study area, according to documents.

ULawmakers OK’d the release of $387,837 for security fence and alarm improvements at the Trumbull Correctional Institution in Leavittsburg. The existing system is 17 years old.

According to documents, “The institution is experiencing numerous problems with sensing devices and computer failures. Some areas of the perimeter fence experience dead zones and don’t send signals to the control room computer. Other areas may experience false alarms, sending signals to the control room computer that there is activity along the perimeter fence system when there actually is no activity.”