Time has come for a pact on V&M Star Steel project

Silence on the part of the French owners of V&M Star Steel over the failure of the cities of Youngstown and Girard to ink a land deal needed for a $970 million expansion project should not be assumed to be golden. It may well be that Vallourec and Mannesmann Tubes, headquartered in Paris, observing the verbal clashes between officials of the two cities, have decided that such parochial attitudes are not in the best financial interest of the company.

Vallourec had set an Aug. 28 deadline for Youngstown and Girard to reach agreement on the land, but last month those involved in the negotiations said enough progress had been made that the do-it-or-lose-it order had been lifted. But more than 30 days have passed since progress was reported and the transfer of 191 acres from Girard to Youngstown still has not taken place.

Time has run out. The directors of Vallourec are supposed to meet at the end of the year to decide whether to proceed with the expansion of V&M Star Steel in Youngstown. The plan that has been discussed calls for the construction of a state-of-the-art steel manufacturing facility on the land that Girard would be transferring to Youngstown. The land deal is sought by Vallourec because its current V&M Star plant is located in Youngstown and it has formed a close working relationship with city government. It makes business sense to have one income tax rate applied to the employees and the corporation and Youngstown has a track record of securing federal and state development grants. It also has the ability to borrow the kind of money needed to clean up the prospective site.

So why has this no-brainer of a land deal caused so much controversy? Because politicians have an uncanny knack of losing sight of what’s important, and are easily distracted by provincial attitudes.

No upper hand

Neither Youngstown nor Girard has the upper hand in this project. Their only role is to give Vallourec what it wants. After all, the company will be investing close to $1 billion in the Mahoning Valley. It’s a once in a lifetime proposition that cannot be jeopardized by government. All the pontificating, allegations and machinations from the individuals charged with doing the people’s work won’t change this fact: Putting the project in jeopardy is irresponsible.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland made it clear recently that he has placed the weight of the state and federal governments behind the project. The state is funneling $20 million in federal stimulus money for the improvement of rail lines and to clean up environmentally contaminated acreage.

As this editorial was being written, negotiations were supposed to be taking place to try to find common ground on the sharing of tax revenue. A successful conclusion would result in a special meeting of Girard City Council to formally adopt the agreement.

But that’s not enough. What is needed is a coming together of the mayors and council members of the two cities, as well as other officials, for a formal signing of the land agreement.

A photograph of these public servants shaking hands would be worth a thousand words to the board of directors of Vallourec.

Our message to mayors Jay Williams of Youngstown and James Melfi of Girard is simple and straightforward: Get it done — now.