GIRARD — Girard City Council has approved the transfer of portions of the Ohio Leatherworks property to the Western Reserve Port Authority.

Mayor Mark Zuppo told city council Monday the northern portion of the property off U.S. Route 422, appraised at $50,000, is not needed by the city.

The city will retain the southern portion, which was appraised at $250,000.

Zuppo said Yellowstone Industries, formerly Syro Steel, is growing and has expressed interest in the northern section for its expansion.

“This section is of no use to the city of Girard. It is of no value to us but would benefit Yellowstone Industries,” Zuppo said, adding the area is north of Girard Creek.

He said transferring the property to the Port Authority will allow authority officials to negotiate with Yellowstone Industries for acquiring the property.

Fourth Ward Councilman Thomas Grumley said the city wants to expand the bike trail on the southern portion of the property.

Councilwoman at-large Lily Martuccio said the city spent money to clean up the property, as it aims to have a park and bikeway on the southern portion.

Zuppo said a Port Authority representative will be asked to attend a future council meeting to discuss what is planned for the site.

MANDATED DAM WORK

In other business, council voted 4-2 giving final reading to proceed with entering into a cooperative agreement for the engineering, planning and designing of the Girard Upper Lake dam improvement project between the city and the Ohio Water Development Authority.

Casting the “no” votes were Grumley and 3rd Ward Councilman Mark Standohar.

Officials said they are concerned about the total costs for mandated improvements at the dam required by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. First Ward Councilman Keith Schubert added that he is particularly worried about what the expenses will be for the city once the design study is completed and the necessary repairs are identified.

“What are our future plans? This is the start of spending a lot of money,” Schubert said.

Safety Service Director Mark Ragozine said the city will be responsible for any updates or repairs to the dam, noting it is mandated by the ODNR.

“If we fail to do this mandate, the state will fine us and make us fix it, which will incur even more costs. There needs to be design engineering done to show what work and upgrades need to be done,” Ragozine said.

“ODNR has the authority and enforcement for us to do this. Time is of the essence with moving forward with this project.”

He said the dam work mandate was issued in 2021.

Ragozine said city officials have worked with ODNR for a low-interest loan for the project costs, with payments to be made over five years.

Zachary Teter, a civil engineer with MS Consultants, said the design plan for the dam project will determine what needs to and can be done and help to determine final project costs.

He said ODNR has informed the city of what needs to be done.

Teter said if the city does not do the mandated remediation, the state will take over and do the work themselves and charge the city for the work in addition to penalties.

“By us doing it this way, in-house, will help us control some of the costs,” he said, noting the city can seek grants and not have to use as much of the loan.

Teter said prework will be done in 2026, and the project will then go out to bid in 2027.

Zuppo said the current administration inherited the problem with the dam.

“We are dealing with this and being very transparent,” Zuppo said.

Teter said work will need to be done on the dam spillway.

“We are doing what we have to satisfy the ODNR,” Teter said.