Trumbull County partnerships receive revitalization grant

Staff report

BROOKFIELD

The Trumbull County Land Reutilization Corp., Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber have been awarded an Abandoned Gas Station Grant to fund the cleanup work at the former Fuel Express on U.S. Route 62.

The grant, administered by the Ohio Development Services Agency, will fund the entire cost of demolition, underground tank removal and environmental cleanup activities at the site, which will begin Tuesday. Sam Lamancusa, Trumbull County Treasurer and TCLRC board president, said the grant is invaluable to the revitalization efforts in the county.

“It provides the resources needed to remove a long-time blighted gas station on a main thoroughfare between Youngstown and Warren, and allows for the future development of the site,” he said in a news release.

Ron Haun, Brookfield trustee, said the trustees have been working on this for two years.

“We are ecstatic about the grant being awarded,” he said. “We are grateful that the land bank tapped into the state funds to get this structure tore down, and we hope to beautify that area.”

This is the second year in a row that the three partners have received the funding. The grant provides up to $250,000 for restoration efforts.

In 2018, the grant was used for the same services at the former McQuaid gas station in Girard on North State Street.

“That grant has been outstanding, very beneficial to the city,” said Girard Mayor James Melfi. “It began with the demolition of that eyesore. Of course there are environmental concerns, and they removed the tanks and tested the soil.”

Melfi said additional state funding is being used to test the quality of the soil because the contamination of the tanks was extensive.

The land bank plans to release a request for proposals for the site in the future, which is 0.17 acres of commercial-zoned property in downtown Girard.

Lamancusa said the Brookfield property should be made available by spring 2020.

Interested parties can contact the land bank at 330-469-6828 or by visiting the website www.trumbullcountylandbank.org for information.

The TCLRC, Brownfield Restoration Group, Brookfield Township, Girard, the chamber, Buckeye Elm Contracting and Environmental Management Specialists assisted with these efforts.