Reagent Chemical is planning to build a hydrochloric acid transfer station in the Newcomerstown Industrial Park. (Village of Newcomerstown)

NEWCOMERSTOWN - Village and county officials are laying the groundwork to bring a chemical transfer station to the southern part of the county. 

Newcomerstown Mayor Pat Cadle says Reagent Chemical has plans to build a hydrochloric acid transfer station on 10 acres in the Newcomerstown Industrial Park. He says the area’s proximity to the railroad makes it an ideal location for the operation, once they extend the tracks and build a rail spur so trains can get there.

“That is just as important as the chemical transfer company coming because that opens the whole park up once you have the railroad going across the road. Other companies, we’ve missed opportunities because we didn’t have rail service. This gives us rail service into the main part of the park,” he says.

Tuscarawas County Commissioners Joe Sciaretti says the county is pitching in $200,000 toward the project, which is expected to cost upwards of $800,000, with the company picking up the difference. He says he considers it a good investment because it will allow for future growth and development. 

“We have a fund for that and we’ve had precedent to do that in the past. This will open up phase 2 of the industrial park, which the county has been an active participant, partner in Newcomerstown and in the industrial park as a whole,” he says.

Cadle says the village has agreed to provide some infrastructural help in exchange for the company’s investment.

“We’re gonna take their water and sewer to them. We made that part of the deal for them coming in. It’s one of those things where you try and work out the best for both sides,” he says.

Cadle says the station will create 10 to 15 new jobs with an average salary of $60,000 per year. Sciarretti says preliminary work for the rail spur is expected to start later this fall with the actual construction set to begin next spring. 

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