"Youngstown Shrimp Harvest"

[Why?Town]

Shar,

I'm sure that Shrimp's failed business venture represents a very small percentage of the abandoned/demolished houses that are/were/will have the tab picked up by the city.

Are you actively pursuing ALL the other former owners?

How about this, Are you actively pursuing ANY of the former owners?

If not, why not?

[Shar]

I have never held myself up to be perfect, I have made many mistakes, the biggest was being a landlord here ten years ago, the water bills were the tenants and my company paid over 50K for their water.  Contact City planning and ask about the form that if you deed your demo property to the City, the demo fee is null, why have they not offered this to us?

This is exactly the problem.....you had rental properties, apparently collected rents on these properties for some period of time and then when you "landlord" venture did not go well, you apparently walked away and now expect that the taxpayers should pick up the tab.  Were you not aware that property owners are responsible for the water consumption here in the city?  Those were not your tenants water bills as you state, they were yours as the property owner. 

[Penguins37]

Would you be able to post a couple of photos of the shrimp ponds on the forum?  I think it would be beneficial for everyone to have an opportunity to see what state-of-the-art aquaculture looks like.

[Youngstownshrimp]

If this is true, you are one of the 57% who inhabit the City.  Mary, I read some of your post and I know you have the community in your heart, but you need to embrace innovation when it flies in your face.  I have never held myself up to be perfect, I have made many mistakes, the biggest was being a landlord here ten years ago, the water bills were the tenants and my company paid over 50K for their water.  Contact City planning and ask about the form that if you deed your demo property to the City, the demo fee is null, why have they not offered this to us?

In your ward, I believe Winsor ave., are many vacant parcels all the way to Prax Air, this land can become productive as urban agriculture.  Your leader should be pushing this.  A few investors are now buying up vacant land (and paying taxes) because of what I have accomplished, this should be the focus of all the naysayers instead of "have you paid your old tenants water bill?  Your neighborhood is dieing and more houses are up for demo. what are you going to do about those vacant abandoned lots?  Together we can grow something on them, I proved it.

[Mary_Krupa]

I live in Section 8 housing, collect Food Stamps and SSI, my house is trashed out and I had 5 babies by age 21 with 8 different fathers. With this kind of background, I do not have a job and could give a damn about my community.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Mary, I answered your questions about demo and water, now please stay on topic and call the City's attorney if you really want to know.

Restoring Thornhill to what, I have ponds there and please again, study shrimp farming in Ohio and your questions will be answered.  With do respect if you really are concerned about shrimp farming get educated.

My question about your education and work is so that I may know if you are a productive member of the community or someone living on entitlements.  This will tell me if I am wasting my time or that you really want a better community.  In addition, are you a member of the MVOC or ACORN?

[Mary_Krupa]

Ron:  thanks for the references you cited. I will follow up and look into them.

I have to give some thought to what you said about the demo money. It just doesn't seem right to me, your not paying up.

What about the water bills?

Also, what about restoration of the Thorn Hill property?

Also, why do you want to know my education and where I work?

[Youngstownshrimp]

Mary, At least you are not hiding behind a user ID, so I will answer your questions, but they sound pretty negative.  The US imports 2 billion worth of shrimp a year and all are farmed raised the old way "net pens."  The industry is changing course and moving rapidly to self contained inland facilities and guess what state is high on the radar screen, Ohio because of its abundant water source.  What you need to do is google "Ohio Shrimp" and you can find all your answers there.  BTW, the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture last year certified Ohio shrimp green because I took the lead in not discharging the effluent back into the creek.  Even though it is off topic, you may call the City's attorney (Kannensohn) about my companies demo and water bills.  Here is a paradox for you, if Struthers just rec'd. thousands of dollars from the state for demo., why unlike YTown is their position, not to bill the property owner because they claim it is not their money to go after but the state's.  Does the City of Youngstown return what it collects in demo. bills back to the state or do they bury it in their general fund?

Here is a question for you, what is your education and where do you work?

[Penguins37]

Congrats Shrimp,

It sounds like business is booming at the ponds.  Hopefully some of those profits can be spent back on your business and the ponds can get adequate fencing and proper seeding.   

[Mary_Krupa]

Ron:  I am all for the creative ideas that you bring to this city. The shrimp farm sounds exciting. However, I do have concerns about the demolition fees and water bills that you owe the city. In addition, I have health and environmental concerns about the situation. Perhaps you can give me your perspective on the following questions/issues:

1.  Is your farm-raised shrimp contaminated as stated in the following comment from a web page?  "So, what exactly are the risks of farm-raised shrimp? In a nutshell, the major concerns are salmonella, antibiotics, bacteria, parasites, and chemical residues. Often, conditions on shrimp farms are unsanitary and frequently lead to the U.S. refusing shrimp imports for reasons of "filth." The most significant dangers are posed by internationally farm-raised shrimp. At shrimp farms in locales such as Southeast Asia, overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions create a largely unstable environment, full of viruses and bacteria. To discourage disease, the shrimp pools are pumped with antibiotics and chemicals – some of which are actually illegal in the United States. The shrimp are frozen as they are transported, but this doesn't always kill the chemicals or viruses. The FDA is charged with testing the shrimp when they arrive in the United States, but inspection guidelines aren't as stringent as consumers might like, so various watchdog organizations have cropped up to try to prevent potential harms."

2.  I understand you do not use the Thorn Hill site because of water issues. Granted, I have never seen it, but based on the two holes I saw off Northglenn near Jacobs Road, I imagine there is erosion and, if chemicals were used, unfavorable run-off. I understand that the pond was less than an acre and if so, then you don't fall under EPA regulations. What are your plans to restore the earth at this locale?

Thanks.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Last night after two grueling days at the farm my wife and I had dinner at Pho Saigon and the owner cooked some fresh Youngstown shrimp I brought for them.  The way they cooked the shrimp was an Asian specialty, the prawns were cooked making them crispy with the heads on.  What a delicacy, it was like eating soft shell crab.  The Asian community here is buzzing about now, how fresh locally grown shrimp is here to stay.  Just this afternoon, I bumped into the owners of Golden Hunan in Liberty and Eddie told me how good the shrimp was I brought to him last Friday night.  He wants to buy several pounds.

You see, the issue here is "making abandoned land productive"  and as the industry grows commerce and jobs follow.  What ideas or free enterprise are the naysayers coming up with?  Yea, just look at Youngstown, the entitlement industry thrives.

[northside lurker]

Rick this is a message board/forum.  If you and Ron have chosen to use your real name and reveal your real identy that was your choice. 

Why does Ron need a "real identity" to answer a real question.  As far as I know this issue of the ponds has not been resolved.  There were requirements imposed by the City regarding this property.  Were those requirements met?  There also seems to be an outstanding lawsuit that Ron filed against the City.  That certainly implies to me that this is not resolved and that it is not old news.  I would think that if everything was on the "up and up" here that Shrmip would answer the questions and clear up the confusion.  I can only assume that his silence means that there has not been any resolution to this matter.

In Ron's defense, if there is some form of litigation, he may not be able to answer your questions even if he wanted to.

I applaud Ron's efforts to creatively use vacant land in the city.  My impression of the situation though, is that Ron took the "it is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission" approach to this.  And, then complained that the authorities were standing in his way, when they took issue with the liberties that he had taken.  Again, I don't know how close or far from the truth this is, but this is what it looks like to me.

[Shar]

Rick this is a message board/forum.  If you and Ron have chosen to use your real name and reveal your real identy that was your choice. 

Why does Ron need a "real identity" to answer a real question.  As far as I know this issue of the ponds has not been resolved.  There were requirements imposed by the City regarding this property.  Were those requirements met?  There also seems to be an outstanding lawsuit that Ron filed against the City.  That certainly implies to me that this is not resolved and that it is not old news.  I would think that if everything was on the "up and up" here that Shrmip would answer the questions and clear up the confusion.  I can only assume that his silence means that there has not been any resolution to this matter.

[ForumManager]

Someone reported Rick's post as inflammatory but it is obvious that the inflammatory posts began long before Rick chimed in... just making a note here.

I must have missed something.  It is my understanding the shrimp farming was finally approved so all the articles referring to the situation are old news. I want to know what the problem is?  Seems it is innovative, its time has  come.  Personally I'd rather eat shrimp that were farmed locally then worry about what is coming from polluted waterways or third world countries where the middle man gets the profit. With all the blight in the city how can a few ponds be nuisance? According to the article links, Shrimp  has sought the expertise of all the right people. Building a new home or a new development  is a mess before it is complete and no one complains about the construction process.

[Rick Rowlands]

Hey Shar and Penguins37, reveal who you are so we can dig up dirt on you too.  Stop hiding behind aliases.  I am sure Ron will answer your questions if he can question the both of you about some skeletons in your closets.

FYI - This post was reported as off topic and inflammatory