Youngstown fails to get a grant to clean up contaminants on property it owns so it will borrow up to $2 million for the work
YOUNGSTOWN
After failing to get a grant to clean up contaminants on city-owned property used by Vallourec Star, the board of control today will consider borrowing up to $2 million for the work.
The property is the former Dempsey Steel that already had $1.9 million worth of remediation work with $1.2 million coming from a state grant.
City council authorized legislation Feb. 29 to seek a state grant for the second cleanup.
Instead, the city received a loan for the work that includes removing PCB contamination and asbestos in soil.
The cost should be about $1.4 million, said city Finance Director David Bozanich, but “we don’t know the final number yet on the cost.”
The city will pay $291,148 for the work, with the rest coming from the loan to be repaid over 14 years.
Loan documents say the city doesn’t have to pay interest on the first nine years of the loan and 2 percent during the final five years.
The city purchased the property at 1500 State St. for $360,000 in 2009 for Vallourec as part of the company’s $1.2 billion expansion.
The company uses the location to store materials and for parking, Bozanich said.
The $1.9 million worth of work done about six years ago included soil remediation and the removal of abandoned drums, polyethylene tanks, propane cylinders, truck batteries, lighting-fixture ballasts, fluorescent bulbs and asbestos.
Years after that work was done, the PCB and asbestos in the soil was discovered.
The city is looking for additional financial assistance to lessen the amount it would need to borrow, Bozanich said.
“We’re working through the issues with Vallourec, but no deal has been reached,” he said. “Other sources could be state or federal grants.”
Also today, the board of control will vote on settling a lawsuit stemming from a May 21, 2015, incident during a junior high-school state wrestling championship event at the city-owned Covelli Centre.
Barbara Carpenter, address unknown, sued the city; JAC Management Group, which manages the center for the city; and the Ohio Athletic Commission, which sponsored the event; after she was injured at the center while in a wheelchair to watch the event with her family.
The settlement calls for the city and JAC to each pay $22,500 and for the OAC to pay $10,000.
The deal includes no admission of liability from any of the parties, said Law Director Martin Hume. He added the center has handicapped-accessible seating.
The settlement also requires JAC employees to attend a 30-minute training session from a disability-advocacy group in September.