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Port approves hiring 2 companies for Trumbull brownfield assessments
By Ed Runyan
VIENNA
Assessments of about 35 Trumbull County brownfield sites — industrial properties that need cleanup — are likely to begin in October or November after approval by the Western Reserve Port Authority of two environmental consultants.
The authority on Wednesday authorized its executive director, Rose Ann DeLeon, to sign contracts with URS of Cleveland and Brownfield Restoration Group of Massillon.
The companies will work with the Trumbull County Brownfield Coalition, consisting of partners from the Trumbull County Planning Commission, the port authority, Howland Township and the City of Warren, DeLeon said.
The coalition will chose the sites to be evaluated.
The work is being paid for with a $600,000 grant to the port authority from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that was approved in June.
The primary focus will be on sites in the Golden Triangle area of Howland and Warren — Bronze Road and Dietz and Griswold streets, including the areas occupied by the former Delphi plant — and along the Mahoning River.
Sarah Lown, the port authority’s senior manager for economic development, said the grant will do the most good if it is used on many smaller projects, such as properties that need only asbestos removal.
The larger industrial properties will cost a great deal of money each.
The grant is for a 3-year project beginning Oct. 1. After the assessments are complete, the port authority will attempt to tap into Clean Ohio grant funds to carry out the cleanups. But those funds require that the coalition identify an end-user — a company that wants the property when the cleanup is done — Lown noted.
That is another reason why smaller cleanups are being given greater emphasis than larger ones — because those will take less time and are more likely to have an identified end-user.
In other matters, Realtor James Pirko, president of YNGAir Partners, a citizen support group for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, announced that the group has been granted nonprofit 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service.
It will help the group raise money for its primary goal — attracting daily air service to the airport.
The status is necessary for foundations to contribute money, Pirko said.
YNGAir Partners will host charity events such as concerts at local venues such as the Covelli Centre, Packard Music Hall and Warren Amphitheatre, and offer prizes such as junket flights to Las Vegas, as part of its fundraising.
The group formed to help the airport raise the $420,000 in matching money required by the $780,000 Small Community Air Service Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money will be used as a revenue guarantee to encourage an airline to start daily service between the local airport and a hub airport in Detroit, Washington or Chicago.