POLAND, Ohio – The Western Reserve Port Authority Board of Directors on Wednesday approved entering into an agreement to support development of a potential assisted living center project in Boardman.
The board authorized what port authority officials described as an inducement agreement with Boardman AAL LP for the development of Silver Birch of Boardman, a multifamily rental assisted living facility. The approximately 120-unit, 100,000-square-foot center would be constructed at 6596 South Ave.
The agreement is based on ones that other port authorities are doing to finance projects, Nick Chretien, regional planning and development manager for the port authority, told the board. “This is a more formal draft of a capital lease that allows them to start the clock in terms of what they’re able to capture in their financing,” he said.
“This is just more a formal way of doing a letter of intent,” said Anthony Trevena, port authority executive director. The entity can then go to its bank and report it has this commitment from the port authority, and the level of savings offered, and it becomes part of the capital stack.
“They are working through their due diligence items,” including financing and zoning compliance, Chretien said. “If they don’t meet those things, they will not come back with the final term sheet.”
In other business, the WRPA board moved forward on several runway and repair projects at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, which the port authority operates.
It awarded a $11,698,500 contract to Lindy Paving, New Galilee, Pa., $462,285 to rehabilitate Runway 14/32, and accepted a $12,122,474 Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Grant for the work, and a $462,285 contract to Xtreme Elements, Akron, to reconstruct the A9 apron, supported by a $539,063 FAA grant. Both projects also received matching funds through the Ohio Department of Development.
In addition, the board approved paying $241,646 to Murphy Contracting Co., Youngstown, to demolish and replace an existing 2,300-square-foot concrete block wall along the east face of Hangar 2N, also funded by the Ohio Department of Development.
The board also approved accepting $175,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from Mahoning County to support capital improvements at the Mahoning Valley Campus of Care in Austintown. It awarded a $532,000 contract to M&C Construction, Boardman, for the work, which will include demolishing and replacing existing shingle roofs on seven campus buildings and partial shingle roofing on two additional buildings, as well as replacing aluminum gutters and soffits, along with painting wood trim and doors.
After the meeting, Trevena said he hopes to finalize the acquisition of buildings at 101 E. Boardman St. and 39 S. Champion St., owned by the defunct Eastern Gateway Community College, in the next few weeks. Plans call for demolishing the South Champion property, which includes a decaying parking garage, and renovating the East Boardman building.
Wednesday morning’s meeting began with a moment of silence in recognition of the six victims of a June 29 plane crash in Howland Township that claimed the lives of James Weller, president and CEO of Liberty Steel Industries Inc., and three members of his family; pilot Joseph Maxin; and co-pilot Timothy Blake.
The meeting closed with a video montage devoted to Maxin, director of compliance for the port authority and lead flight instructor at the airport’s new flight school.