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Girard wins big in sewer project
No rate increases as Youngstown donates $400K
By DAVID SKOLNICK
GIRARD
Girard is finishing $500,000 worth of improvements to its waste-treatment facilities to accommodate an increased need from V&M Star’s $650 million expansion.
Girard will receive about $120,000 to $180,000 in annual sewer fees once V&M’s new plant is fully operational in early 2012, said Mayor James Melfi.
And what makes it an even better deal for Girard, Melfi said, is Youngstown is giving $400,000 to his city for the improvements.
As part of the negotiations with the two cities to get V&M to build a second plant here, Youngstown agreed to give $400,000 from its wastewater fund to Girard’s wastewater fund in two $200,000 installments.
The Youngstown Board of Control approved the first $200,000 payment Thursday.
The work to the Girard system should be done in about 30 days, Melfi said. The contract between the two cities calls for Youngstown to pay the second $200,000 when the project is done.
The Girard plant needed equipment upgrades and pipe replacements to handle the anticipated waste from the V&M Star plant under construction, Melfi said.
“The equipment will process the wastewater more efficiently and handle a larger volume,” Melfi said.
Girard receives about $1.7 million a year in wastewater revenue, he said.
V&M will increase that annual amount by about 7 percent to 11 percent.
“This will be a great benefit to the city’s wastewater fund,” Melfi said. “Also, with additional income, a rate increase won’t be needed. Our residents will benefit from the money we receive from V&M.”
“It’s time for Youngstown to ‘show Girard the money!’” Dennis P. Meek, who Girard hired as the engineer of the wastewater improvement project, wrote in a May 28 e-mail to Girard city officials.
After several weeks of sometimes contentious negotiations, the two cities signed a deal on Oct. 14, 2009, that helped V&M officials decide to expand here. V&M announced the expansion Feb. 15.
The deal between the two cities called for Youngstown to annex about 200 acres of land from Girard for V&M to build a second plant near its current factory in Youngstown on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
In addition to the $400,000 Girard is receiving, that city is receiving about 55 percent of the income-tax revenue from the construction workers building the new facility. The estimated revenue from that is $5.5 million with Girard receiving $3 million and Youngstown getting $2.5 million.
The construction workers, about 400 of them, and the 350 who will work at the new V&M plant will pay a 2.75 percent income tax.
The two cities will evenly split the income tax paid by plant workers.