Communities and businesses near Warren mill site aim for JEDD

WARREN

Officials with Howland Township, Warren Township, Warren and BDM Warren Steel Holdings, the company that owns the former Republic Steel mill just south of Warren, are just beginning a process that they believe will create a joint economic development district in the coming months.

It's goal will be to put about a third of 1,050 acres of property into the best position possible to receive reinvestment from new industrial companies.

The process of creating a JEDD involved a lot of education for the two townships and city and will will involve the hiring of an attorney and then the writing of an agreement, officials said.

The process is just at the beginning, but forming a JEDD is likely to take less than a year, said Kim Mascarella, Howland zoning director.

The mill occupied about 400 acres nearly evenly split between Howland and Warren Townships. Only a small part of the mill was in the city of Warren, but Warren is an important part of the JEDD because it controls utilities, Mascarella said.