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Howland, Warren, Warren Township begin creating JEDD for former RG mill site
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Howland and Warren town- ships, along with the city of Warren, have met for two months to map out the creation of a joint economic development district for part of the former RG Steel property south of Warren.
The goal will be to create a JEDD for about a third of the 1,050 acres BDM Warren Steel Holdings acquired when it bought the former mill out of bankruptcy in 2012.
“This is a great example of communities working together to further economic development and encourage growth,” Howland Township Trustee Rick Clark said during an announcement Tuesday at the Pine Street entrance to the site.
A JEDD can increase revenue and provide more extensive and efficient services, especially when one government entity doesn’t have all of the utilities or services needed to spur the desired business development, Clark said.
About 95 percent of the demolition of the mill’s buildings is complete, said Mike Bechtold, general manager of BDM.
The number of acres likely to be included in the JEDD is about 300 to 450. The land to be included in the JEDD is pretty evenly split between Howland and Warren townships, said Kim Mascarella, Howland zoning director. Only a small portion of the property is in Warren, but the city is important because it controls utilities, including water, Mascarella said.
The next step will be to hire Atty. John Albers of Columbus in about a month and then start to write the JEDD agreement. That could take up to a year, said Mascarella and Mike Keys, Warren community development director.
Ohio wrote the legislation allowing for JEDDs in 1993. A JEDD establishes a revenue plan among municipalities and townships participating, but officials said Tuesday the tax-sharing formula for this JEDD hasn’t been determined yet.
“It’s the very beginning of the process,” Clark said.
BDM was interested in a JEDD, and Howland took the lead in researching it and educating all of the partners, officials said.
Kay Anderson, Warren Township trustee, said she appreciates that BDM is taking steps to develop the site.
“We hope we we’ll have something that will create jobs in the future,” she said.
Warren Mayor Doug Franklin and Clark mentioned the central role the mill has played in the lives of local families.
“My dad worked here 44 years,” Franklin said. The paychecks provided money for his family and “sent me to college,” he said.
“It’s been quite a pleasure to work with Kim [Mascarella, Darlene [St. George, Howland Township administrator], Rick [Clark] and Kay Anderson [Warren Township trustee] to get this off of the ground,” Franklin said.
“It’s kind of interesting we have a blank canvas behind us,” the mayor said, indicating the hundreds of acres behind him that are empty.
“In the long term, we want to bring jobs back to the Mahoning Valley,” said Bechtold.
“We are all natives of the Pittsburgh region, Cleveland region. We’ve all basically seen the demise of the steel industry and what it does to communities,” he said. “Our job is to start with a clean slate, if you will, and try and promote economic development in the Mahoning Valley. This is a keynote element to the kickoff of that.”