Mayor Williams: No JEDD for Liberty Wal-Mart

YOUNGSTOWN — While Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams wants a joint economic development district with Liberty at the site of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, the city will do absolutely nothing to impede the project.

Liberty trustees made it clear at a Tuesday meeting with Youngstown that they had no interest in a JEDD, which would include an income tax on employees, at the Wal-Mart location at the former Liberty Plaza on Belmont Avenue.

“Our questions were answered, and our issues were resolved,” Williams said today. “...There will not be a JEDD at Wal-Mart. We want to move the project forward. We could have chosen to make an issue of the Wal-Mart JEDD. We did not. It was always our goal for the project to succeed.”

The city approved a water site plan Wednesday for the Liberty Wal-Mart project that is needed for the project to proceed, said John Casciano, Youngstown’s water commissioner. The city also has to approve a water tap application for Wal-Mart once the company submits one, but giving the go-ahead to that application is merely a formality, Casciano said.

The city never had any intention of refusing to sell its water to Wal-Mart and merely wanted to explore the possibility of a JEDD with Liberty on that property, Williams said.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.