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Mayor to visit Calif. to see work of firm planning Warren plant

By RAYMOND L. SMITH

and VIRGINIA SHANK

Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — The man who wants to locate a multimillion-dollar automated parking garage manufacturing center in Warren will celebrate Auto ParkIt’s newest garage March 10 in Los Angeles, and Warren Mayor Doug Franklin is expected to attend the ribbon cutting.

“This will be a business trip where I will be able to see one of these facilities firsthand,” Franklin said. “We’ve seen recordings of these automated parking facilities, but this will be the first time we will see it in person.”

Warren native Christopher Alan wants to transform the former Delphi plant at 408 Dana St. NE into the manufacturing hub for California-based Auto ParkIt, which makes modular parking garages where traditional parking is not realistic. Alan is also looking to purchase the former Delphi administration building, also on Dana Street NE, for office space.

Franklin may be joined by some economic development officials in Trumbull County.

John Moliterno, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which does economic development in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, said he is considering attending the opening.

“It’s a great project for Warren, and with the involvement the port authority has had in it, it would be great to see a similar facility in operation, to be able to have a better picture of what (Alan) is planning here. The timing would be good. He’s moving along really well with his plans here, and we would love to see it succeed,” Moliterno said.

At the time the plans were announced, administration officials estimated between 200 and 300 new high-paying jobs would be created in the city in three to four years. The number of jobs could expand to 700 to 800 over the course of a decade.

Last year, the port authority fronted about $200,000 to help move the Dana Street site project into a Phase II environmental assessment step to ready it for development. The process involves testing the soil, groundwater and vapor intrusion. The money was reimbursed to the authority by JobsOhio.

Sarah Lown, the authority’s public finance director, said vapor samples and groundwater samples were taken from the site. Test results will be used to estimate what it will cost to rid the site of any potential contaminants.

Lown said there’s a possibility the authority also could be involved with the cleanup.

Phase I, funded through grant money, involved testing the historic use of the site to determine what chemicals were used there and in what areas. That process identified two areas in the former Delphi administration building and three or four in the old manufacturing plant where asbestos was present.

rsmith@tribtoday.com

vshank@tribtoday.com

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