City OKs Contracts for Wick Ave., Vallourec Work

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city is borrowing up to $2 million to address environmental issues at the former Dempsey Steel property and moving forward on contracts for work along Wick Avenue.

The Board of Control approved an agreement with the Ohio Development Services Agency for the environmental cleanup work at its meeting today.

The city acquired the Dempsey property as part of Vallourec’s development of its $1 billion pipe mill, said David Bozanich, city finance director. The city cleaned the site under the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s voluntary program action guidelines but several years later additional materials were discovered buried on the site.

“We now have identified what the problem looks like and we are pursuing the final cleanup of that area,” Bozanich said. Although the city approved borrowing up to $2 million for the work, project costs are only anticipated to reach about $1.3 million, he noted.

Vallourec used the land for storage, Bozanich said.

At the meeting, the board approved a $294,170.57 contract with FirstEnergy Corp. for work related to relocating its primary transmission lines underground as part of the Wick Avenue rehabilitation project. FirstEnergy will relocate lines from Rayen Avenue to the Eastbound Service Road.

As part of the rehabilitation work, the city will install duct banks under ground, and FirstEnergy will pull the cabling and conductors through, Charles T. Shasho, deputy director of public works, said.

“The reason we’re paying them for it is they don’t have to do it,” Shasho said. “There’s no roadway need for them to do it. We’re doing it purely for aesthetics.”

Bids will be opened Tuesday for the main Wick Avenue project contract.

The board also approved a $362,500 contract with ProQuality Demolition, Canfield, for asbestos abatement and demolition at the former Wick Six properties on Wick Avenue. The city elected to do the site cleanup at the property under an agreement with the Ohio EPA instead of paying a fine for emissions violations at its wastewater treatment plant.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Shasho remarked. The remediated sites will then be available for redevelopment.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.