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Darke
County Economic Development
UC Coalition
receives US EPA Grant
Site Specific Assessment Grant Funds Will Support Redevelopment of
Brownfield Sites Contaminated with Hazardous Substances and Petroleum,
and Play Key Role in Regional Redevelopment Efforts; Cross-State Grant
Collaboration May Be First of a Kind.
UNION CITY – The Union City Coalition (the Coalition) is pleased to
announce that it has received a U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) Brownfield Site-Specific Assessment Grant, for Brownfield sites
in Randolph County, Indiana and Darke County, Ohio. In addition, the
Coalition will be holding a community outreach event on December 6 to
educate and inform the public about the available grant funds and the
grant process. The announcement was made by Monte Poling, City Manager
and Economic Development Coordinator for Union City, Indiana and the
Grant Manager for the project.
U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment Grants provide funds to inventory,
characterize, assess, and conduct planning (including cleanup
planning), and community involvement activities related to brownfield
sites. The Site Specific grants were awarded in the amount of $400,000
to support redevelopment of brownfields contaminated with hazardous
substances, and $200,000 to clean up sites contaminated with petroleum.
(Brownfield Assessment Grants do not provide resources to conduct
cleanup or building demolition activities; cleanup assistance is
available under EPA’s Cleanup or Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grants).
“Securing the grant and developing a plan of action for carrying it
out, as well as working closely with Darke County throughout the
process, have played an instrumental role in our ongoing mission to
generate economic redevelopment throughout the entire region,” said
Poling. “Part of our plan will be to hold the community-focused
event on December 6 in order to encourage the kind of awareness and
involvement that will lead to revitalization of the brownfield sites,
and ultimately for greater economic development potential for all of
the communities involved.”
The Union City Community Economic Development Committee (UCCEDC), which
serves both Union City, Ohio and Union City, Indiana (located in the
respective grantee counties in each state), originally brought forward
the concept of partnering to support the UCCEDC’s vision to foster
collaboration across the state line that joins the cities. From
there, the Union City Coalition formed to lead the brownfield grant
effort; the original application for this grant is thought to be the
first document ever signed by all three commissioners from each
county. The benefits of forming a coalition include increased
access to grant assessment resources for communities, and opportunities
to access a larger pool of grant funding. A coalition also is able to
shift geographic focus to new areas as revitalization needs are
identified, and to areas with the greatest need over a given time.
“Working together as coalition partners has proven to be a very
effective process for our group,” said Marc Saluk, Economic Development
Director, Darke County, Ohio. ”Collectively, we will be able to better
leverage the grant resources for each of the communities involved than
each could have done on their own. We also understand that this
particular grant may be the first of its kind issued to a cross-state
coalition, and we look forward to collaborating to make the most of the
grant dollars for all involved.”
The Coalition also has selected Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc.
(SME) to manage the grant and to provide brownfield redevelopment
consulting services for the Coalition. Under the grant dollars, SME
will be available to provide a variety of environmental project
services, including environmental site assessments, assistance with
brownfield grant writing and grant program management, due care
documentation, remedial action plans, remedial closure reports,
remediation planning, and asbestos services.
The community outreach event will be held from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on
Thursday, December 6 at the Union City (Indiana) City Hall, 105 N.
Columbia St., Union City, Indiana, 47390. Those interested in finding
out more about the event, or about the Union City Coalition’s U.S. EPA
Brownfield Assessment Grant, should contact Monte Poling at (765)
964-7833 or citymgruc@yahoo.com, or Marc Saluk at (937) 548-3250 or
msaluk@darkecounty.com. For more information on the U.S. EPA’s
Brownfield Assessment Grants and other brownfield programs, visit
http://epa.gov/brownfields.
About The Union City Community Economic Development Committee:
The UCCEDC is a volunteer group comprised of business leaders, elected
officials, citizens, religious leaders, and other dedicated community
advocates from Randolph County, Indiana and Darke County, Ohio working
together to create an environment for economic growth and community
pride in the Union City region. The community’s location on the
Indiana-Ohio border gives it the unique ability to leverage business
incentives from either state and to draw from the labor pool and
quality of life opportunities from both states and both communities.
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