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Mahoning commissioners press for speedy settlement of V&M land tiff
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John McNally IV
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
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Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti
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Girard Mayor James Melfi
Everybody benefits if the steel-mill expansion goes forward, commissioners say.
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners have appealed for a quick resolution of the dispute between Girard and Youngstown over annexation of Girard land to Youngstown for the proposed $970 million V&M Star Steel expansion project.
“I want to urge [Girard] Mayor [James] Melfi to do the right thing. The property there will be used for nothing else in the future. He should work with the city of Youngstown to let that property be annexed,” said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the county commissioners.
“Both counties will benefit from that project,” he added, referring to Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Girard is in Trumbull County. Youngstown is in Mahoning County.
“We’re urging the city of Girard and the mayor to work diligently with Mayor [Jay] Williams [of Youngstown] to accomplish this. To me, it sounds like a no-brainer and it should have gone forward by now,” Traficanti said during Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting.
“I expect by Aug. 28 that these issues will be resolved, and V&M will continue to think of the current location in the city of Youngstown as their home for that proposed expansion,” said Traficanti’s colleague, Commissioner John A. McNally IV.
“Every indication that we’ve seen as commissioners and just on the streets is that V&M wants us to be their proposed expansion location,” McNally said. “Let’s get these issues behind us and let’s move forward and then bring much-needed job growth to this area,” he added.
“Four hundred jobs is going to be a help no matter who is sharing in the revenue of this proposed deal,” McNally said. “I expect, in the end, the city of Youngstown and the city of Girard are going to come up with a solution that makes sense for both of them.”
V&M, which manufactures seamless tubes used mostly in the gas and oil industry, hasn’t given a firm commitment to the expansion project. A final decision from the company on the project is expected by the end of the year.
Roger Lindgren, steel company president, told officials of both cities in a two-hour plus private meeting Wednesday that they must settle the land dispute before Aug. 28, or the company will consider moving the project elsewhere.
Representatives of the two cities met later Wednesday for nearly three hours of private negotiations.
Melfi doesn’t want 80 acres of vacant Girard land, which were purchased for about $5 million by Youngstown for the project, to be annexed to Youngstown.
That acreage must be relocated to Youngstown, or the project is off, Lindgren told the officials.
in the private meeting, according to those in attendance.
If the steel company proceeds with the expansion, it would hire about 400 additional employees making $60,000 to $70,000 a year, Williams said.
Girard City Council members have issued a statement saying they support the project. Also, a majority say they don’t object to giving up the 80 acres to save the proposal.
milliken@vindy.com
V&M Star Steel has announced a possible expansion on the border of Youngstown and Girard. The expansion would add about 500 jobs. Here’s how the two cities would split the benefit:
Any employees working in the expansion facilities would pay income taxes at the Youngstown tax rate of 2.75 percent. That would amount to about $2 million annually. Those tax dollars would be divided evenly between the two cities every quarter. Youngstown would supply the facility with water, collecting profit from the sale of that water.
Girard will supply sewer service to the facility, collecting profit for providing that service.
The expansion must be approved by corporate officials in France. A decision is expected at the end of this year.
Source: Youngstown and Girard officials
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Comments
“I want to urge [Girard)] Mayor [James] Melfi to do the right thing. The property there will be used for nothing else in the future. He should work with the city of Youngstown to let that property be annexed,”
The future is a very long time. Who could have ever envisioned Ohio Works Drive in 1979? To say that a more-or-less flat piece of property will never be used for anything in the future is outright speculation. So the right thing to do is to give your land to Youngstown?
Melfi is 100% correct in opposing this annexation. If this deal goes through, then Campbell had better be ready for it's "boundary adjustment."
"...To me, it sounds like a no-brainer..."
Girard is being screwed over on this deal. Look how quick council is willing to sell them out. Under law, 2 communities cannot share income tax on any given parcel without a JEDD. A JEDD is not possible because Girard's 2% and Youngstown's 2.75% tax rates are different. A parcel can only sit in one political subdivision at a time. Winner takes all. Soon Youngstown will be looking to other neighboring communities for "boundary adjustments." This sets the precedent. Campbell, Struthers, Boardman, Austintown, Hubbard, and Liberty beware.
Squash a deal over 80 acres of poisoned land that is otherwise a candidate to be a super fund clean up site. That sounds like the thinking that took down this area in the first place.
So V&M can build here and the valley can benefit or Melfi can resort to old politics and nothing will be built here.
Don't I recall the mayor of Girard, so worried about the budget that he told the police what kind and size of car they had to get even though the police chief opposed it? And didn't the mayor then suspend the police chief for speaking up? And didn't that big old factory along 80 go belly up and more jobs and income were lost from the Girard coffers?
I think Melfi will do the right thing...for him. That will be pig headed enough to make V&M say forget you clowns, we'll go someplace where we are actually wanted.
Communities and counties are sharing revenue in the Cleveland area and if Jay Williams knows anything, he knows about revenue sharing! He is a member of many different groups that work on projects just like that.
The proposed JEDD's for Boardman and Austintown were not for 80 acres of vacant land. Youngstown wanted to collect income tax from every business using Youngstown water. They were offering the communities a piece of the tax collected in exchange. Apples and Oranges when one compares the Girard situation with the others mentioned.
This has to be a win win situation or no one would ever play ball with Williams again and Williams has proposed too many deals to cut his nose off on this one.
V&M is not actually going to expand! This is one big scam to seize land from Girard so V&M can re-arrange their yard. No jobs will be created, and low-paid contractors will be the only workers on that land. Girard is already being screwed out of tax money right now. Many contractors enter the site from Youngstown and work in Girard, especially in the part of the yard they call "Siberia," and Youngstown gets all of the tax revenue. The taxpayers have really been fleeced on this one. 125 acres for $20 million equals $160k per acre. All to subsidize a foreign-owned non-union steel mill run by liars.
http://www.cityofgirard.com/2008%20Ohio%...
Girard needs to say NO WAY!!! This is wrong and screwing them royally out of tax revenue from the expansion and re taxes. There is absolutely no reason why. Melfi should stay strong and not give into Y-town & Mayor Jay. V&M is looking for a free handout of some kind from Y-town. Just say NO Girard.
Why are political subdivisions created? Are they here to serve the public or is the public here to serve the political subdivisions. If a City has to move its boundaries to serve the public interest, then so be it. They are here to serve us!
If V&M doesn't expand then this land will have been cleaned up and can be marketed to others. This is a good deal all the way around.
How is Girard being screwed? They would get half the taxes paid and the sewer revenue. Sounds pretty good to me.
When steel mills lined the valley from Leavittsburg to Lowellville this region had one mind - steel. We acted as a region - an economic unit. Decisions were made that supported the maintenance and growth of the steel industry. Politics were not the main issue. We no longer have the unity that steel gave us, instead we are 72 separate political entities each with their own interests. Our valley is dying (the fact is well doocumented). Our only chance to compete in a global market is to begin to think and act as a unit. What good is 80 empty (save for contaminants) acres of industrial land?
So go ahead and ridicule the mayor and blame the city for all the valley's problems, but from where I stand Williams, Bozanich, McNally, etc. are the only ones trying to make the necessary changes to stop the dying.
This is all Roger Lundgren's fault. And that is how his name is spelled; Lundgren, not Lindgren.
dd933 You are 100% correct!!!!!!!!!! Melfi should be impeached and ran out of town for trying to hold Girard and Youngstown back from prosperity. Why would you want a bunch of vacant land next to the now closed Indelax building. The vacant land and buildings will creep all through Girard.
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