Port authority’s economic develoment arm hires experienced professional engineer

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Randy Partika, longtime bridge engineer with the Mahoning County Engineer’s Office, has signed on to assist the Western Reserve Port Authority’s NEO Development and Finance Agency.

Partika gives the port authority’s economic-development arm a professional engineer with more than 30 years of planning, engineering and construction experience, as well as successful grant writing, financial planning and project management skills, said Anthony Trevena, NEODFA’s economic development director.

Trevena said he believes Partika’s position makes NEODFA the only economic-development organization in the Mahoning Valley with an experienced professional engineer on staff.

He has a great relationship with engineers and regulatory agencies, which should be a great asset, Trevena said. Partika will earn $48,000 annually in a part-time role.

Partika bcomes project manager and development engineer, replacing Nick Coggins, who left the port authority as its communication and project manager in September to be a planner with the Trumbull County Planning Commission.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting of the port authority, held at the Youngstown Business Incubator, Sarah Lown, NEODFA public finance manager, provided an update on the Phase 2 environmental assessment being done at the former Packard Electric facilities on Dana Street in Warren.

Christopher Alan, Auto Parkit president, wants to bring his Los-Angeles-based automated parking system company to the former Packard facilities.

To assist him with that, the port authority is fronting up to $200,000 for the assessment that will later be paid by JobsOhio.

Lown said the testing is nearly complete, and the results are expected to be provided the first week of April.

With that, “we should know the cost to bring the site up to Chris Alan’s standards,” Lown said.

Alan is still negotiating with the owner of the former Packard site but also has secured a backup site in case negotiations do not produce an agreement.