Youngstown board approves $400K in water, wastewater grants for 2 projects

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The city’s board of control approved $400,000 in grants from its water and wastewater funds for two economic development projects.

The use of water and wastewater funds for economic-development projects has been a focus lately because of a lawsuit by four water customers questioning whether the practice is legal and because of an ongoing investigation by the state auditor and attorney general into NYO Property Group subsidiaries using $2.27 million in city water and wastewater funds for three projects.

The board agreed Thursday to give $350,000 – divided equally between the water and wastewater funds – to Fireline Inc. for a $5.76 million expansion at its Andrews Avenue location.

The company manufactures industrial ceramics primarily for the aerospace industry.

The board also approved a 75-percent, 10-year real property tax abatement for the company.

Meanwhile, the board voted to give $50,000 in water and wastewater funds – also divided equally between the two – to Gasser Chair Co. on Logan Way for its $923,700 expansion project. The board gave a tax abatement to Gasser earlier this month. Gasser makes chairs for casinos, restaurants and hotels.

Each company plans to add 20 employees with these expansions.

With these expenditures, the city has provided about $8.4 million since 2009 in water and wastewater funds for economic development projects.

It is legal for the city to use money from those funds for water and wastewater parts of economic development projects, and it’s been a practice that’s been beneficial to Youngstown for years, Mayor John A. McNally said.

The board also approved a $272,000 contract with Siegel Excavating LLC of Edinburg, Pa., to demolish the long-vacant Cavanaugh Co. building on Rayen Avenue in the Riverbend Business Park.

Demolition work will start in about three weeks and take up to 60 days to complete, said Abigail Beniston, the city’s superintendent of code enforcement and blight remediation.