YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control approved contracts for a consultant to oversee a downtown improvement project, and with a company that helps police determine where gunshots are fired on the South Side.

City council had authorized the board to sign the contracts on Wednesday and May 20, respectively. The board approved the deals Thursday at a virtual meeting.

The consultant contract is with Environmental Design Group, an Akron company, for $679,894.

The firm will be responsible for construction inspection, design and administrative services for the city during a major improvement project to Fifth Avenue. The project will begin in a few weeks and take up to a year to be finished.

The Fifth Avenue project is between West Federal Street and Eastbound Service Road and will reduce the number of lanes from two or three in each direction to one in each direction with turning lanes in several locations.

Also, the project includes new lighting, improved curbs and sidewalks, new traffic signals and the removal of others, and a multi-use path for bicyclists and walkers.

EDG also will be used for other phases of the $31 million downtown improvement project that includes Park and Rayen avenues and Commerce, Federal and Front streets.

City council voted Wednesday to allow the board of control to spend up to $2.6 million to pay for overseeing the work.

The improvement project is estimated to cost $31 million with $10.85 million from a federal grant. It is expected to be finished in 2022.

Also Thursday, the board renewed an annual contract with ShotSpotter of Newark, Calif., for $70,036.

The company installed sensors on the South Side in 2010 to determine where gunshots are fired. The new contract is about $5,000 more than the previous deal.

Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th, who represents the South Side and is a retired police officer, is critical of ShotSpotter, saying it doesn’t reduce crime in its current form, and the police department should look into installing cameras.

But Davis still voted May 20 — along with the rest of council — in favor of authorizing the board of control to renew the contract for another year.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com