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Port Authority Approves Grant Proposal, New Officers
VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio – The Western Reserve Port Authority’s board of directors voted Wednesday to apply for a $1 million grant to establish a revolving loan fund for remediation projects on industrial and commercial sites in Mahoning County and Trumbull counties with “high development potential.”
The board, which welcomed two new members at its meeting, elected one of them, Ron Klingle, as vice-chairman. James Floyd, who has served on the port authority for three years, was voted chairman. Patrick Pellin was reelected as secretary.
Klingle, chairman and CEO of Avalon Holdings Corp., and Martin Loney, training director for Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396, replace Richard Musick and Andreas Visnapu, respectively, whose four-year terms expired. Trumbull County commissioners appointed Klingle and Mahoning commissioners named Loney.
“Our community is in a very unique position now with the interest that the oil and gas industry has shown in our area," Klingle remarked. "We have an opportunity here to see if we can bring in companies that can actually utilize the oil and gas coming out of the ground, instead of it getting in a pipeline or getting on a tanker and leaving the area.”
Should the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves the $1 million grant application, the port authority would have to provide a 20% match, or $200,000, in funds or in-kind services. EPA is expected to make a decision on the application in May.
“We’re looking at projects where there’s a developer lined up, preferably,” said Sarah Lown, senior manager for economic development for the port authority. Some of the lower-cost remediation projects involve asbestos abatement of downtown buildings, which could be converted into offices or living spaces. A second priority would be to address industrial sites, particularly along the Mahoning River corridor, “where you have high employment potential for manufacturing,” she added.
Possible sites for remediation projects include the Wean Building in downtown Warren, the Rayen Building near the campus of Youngstown State University, the Girard Leatherworks site in Girard, and the US Steel property in McDonald.
About $50,000 of the local match would be from dedicated staff time, Lown said.
The new board chairman, Floyd, an attorney with Newman, Olson & Kerr in Youngstown, said his initial interest in joining the port authority was in the economic development function.
The port authority, which was established in 1992 to oversee operation of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. It assumed an expanded role in regional economic development at the reto take advantage of the development tools available to port authorities and in 2009 hired Rose Ann DeLeon to serve as executive director.
One of the most important aspects of the port authority “will be to see if we can coordinate the various economic development agencies,” Floyd said. The port authority absorbed the Mahoning River Corridor Initiative into its economic development arm last year and is establishing a relationship with the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. The port authority, which has the authority to issue bonds, also is working with the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
Floyd succeeds Scott Lynn, a pilot for the DeBartolo Companies, who served as chairman for the past four years. “I feel like we’re in a much better spot than we were four years ago,” he said, quickly pointing out that all the board members, not just the chairman, “have something to do with that.”
During the meeting, the board also approved creating a marketing coordinator position one a one-year basis. The marketing coordinator, which airport director Dan Dickten says he wants to hire by Feb. 1, will work with him to bring new service to the airport and publicize the existing service. The position will pay $32,000 annually.
Passenger count for 2013 totaled 94,212 enplanements and deplanements, up 22% from 2012, Dickten told the port authority board.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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