Wooster Growth Corp. members gave the go-ahead to enter into a contract to begin demolition work on the old Timken Co. steel plant on Prairie Lane just south of the Wooster, OH.

"We feel we've done our due diligence and think that it's time to start tearing down some of the buildings," said Justin Starlin, assistant to the director of administration. "There are two buildings to be demolished. They have siding missing and the roofs are not good. There are still other buildings around them that are marketable, and so we think it would be advantageous of us to demo these two buildings."

The Timken property was given to Wooster Growth in October and has been valued at $916,000.

The two buildings marked for demolition are a large, blue barn-like structure that sits in the middle of the property and a smaller structure that sits between the building and Prairie Lane.

A large building on the south side of the property will remain standing.

"I think it's a good thing that the city administrators evaluated how this can best be positioned for a sale and made ready for another occupancy," said Rod Crider, president of Wayne Economic Development Council and a member of the Wooster Growth Corp. "They spent time evaluating offers from outside parties, and decided that taking this action will enhance its value. I agree with it."

Members voted to enter into a demolition contract with Cleveland-based B&B Wrecking, which gave a quote of $45,000.

B&B is the same company contracted by the city to tear down the old water plant on Old Lincoln Way just west of town a year ago.

Also included in the agreement, B&B will take care of the environmental cleanup, which if left to the city would carry a bill of nearly $110,000.

Members also voted to approve a contract for $18,400 to J.P. Incorporated Environmental Consulting, which will oversee the environmental cleanup process to make sure it is disposed of properly.

"It's basically an insurance policy," Starlin said. "If the demo company were to take down siding that had asbestos and just take it to a regular landfill, there would be fines placed on the property owner. This is just to make sure that doesn't happen. We feel good about working with B&B. We've worked with them before and we're confident that they'll do the job right."

A bid from Welded Tube Pros to purchase the substation on the grounds was accepted, which will pay Wooster Growth between $9,500 and $12,000 "depending on the levels of PCB found in the oil within the substation."

In addition to the substation, Wooster Growth voted to enter into an agreement with Joel Berry of Shreve as part of the forestry management plan.

A survey will be conducted on the Timken grounds, and Berry will mark trees to be sold to an open market statewide.

Wooster Growth expects to net nearly $100,000 from the project, which will run on a 10-year rotation.

"The purpose of having a consulting forester is so someone just doesn't come in and clear the whole thing," said law Director Dick Benson. "I have little experience based on property my family owns. We hired a consulting forester who came in and marked trees. They work to find a buyer, and make sure that buyer does what he or she should do."

Berry is expected to start marking trees early next week.

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