SitemapWednesday was the last regularly scheduled meeting for Youngstown City Council for the summer and many decisions were made, including a new partnership between the city and the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
Within the next month, reservists from the 910th Airlift Wing in Vienna will help the city knock down vacant houses under the city’s demolition program.
“The sky is the limit, really. Working with the city and what they can allow and provide training for our airmen,” said 910th Airlift Wing Commander Col. James Dignan.
Youngstown Mayor John McNally said the idea came up after the city applied for a grant through the Department of Defense last year. That grant would help demolish a lot of vacant houses on the city’s south side and lower north side.
However, the agreement with the Air Reserve Station is a way the city can show the Department of Defense how a grant could benefit the city.
“This is pretty nice. We think it is a unique partnership. We think it will be something we can show to the Department of Defense as further reason why we should be granted the Innovative Readiness Training Program in the city of Youngstown,” McNally said.
The partnership with the Air Reserve will focus on a small number of demolitionss near Taft Elementary School on Avondale Avenue on the south side.
“We have 10 to 12 homes we want demolished this summer,” McNally said.
The partnership will cost the city between $20,000 and $25,000. And what happens next depends on what happens after this first mission.
“We are going to start with one building at a time and we will go from there, depending on what is available,” Col. Dignan said.
The demolitions are expected to start within the next month. Even though demolitions will be the air reservists’ biggest project, they also will help replace missing road signs across parts of the city.
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