WEIRTON — City officials are expressing frustration after being passed over for a grant they had hoped would assist in the redevelopment of Weirton’s north end.
During last week’s regular meeting of Weirton Council, City Manager Joe DiBartolomeo announced Weirton had not been awarded a $20 million federal BUILD grant for which it had applied earlier this year.
“The money went to the West Virginia Division of Highways for the second time in a row,” DiBartolomeo said. “We’re disappointed.”
The city had planned to put the funds, if awarded, toward developing infrastructure in the Frontier Crossing development in an effort to assist in redeveloping the former steel-making property in Weirton’s north end for future business opportunities.
The Frontier Group of Companies purchased several thousand acres of property which once belonged to Weirton Steel Corp., and has been working over the last few years to clear and prepare the land for future growth.
City officials noted the BUILD grant is, instead, going to be used for maintenance projects on existing infrastructure. According to information from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the funds will go toward a $70 million project focused on improvements to bridges in Marion and Monongalia counties.
DiBartolomeo noted the city had reached out to state officials to provide support for Weirton’s application.
“We asked them to support our submission and now we know why we didn’t get it,” DiBartolomeo said. “To me, that’s the wrong way to do it.”
According to city Planning and Development Director Jessica Gumm, the state has received funds from the grant program for six of the last eight years.
(Howell can be contacted at [email protected], and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)
