YOUNGSTOWN — City council agreed to use federal COVID-19 relief money to buy a truck and two dumpsters to transport and dispose abandoned mattresses, and to purchase a second set of turnout gear for firefighters.

Council on Wednesday authorized the board of control to make the two purchases.

The first is $204,800 for a rolloff truck and two 40-yard dumpsters to bring abandoned mattresses to the landfill.

The number of abandoned mattresses since the pandemic started in mid-March is about 1,200 compared with around 200 a year between 2017 and 2019.

The second item is spending $219,000 for 115 sets of turnout gear — custom-fitted coats and pants worn by firefighters when responding to emergencies.

Because of the pandemic, the gear has been decontaminated after every emergency call. That has resulted in some firefighters being unable to respond to other emergencies until the gear is cleaned.

The city has received $5,281,248 in federal COVID-19 funding with most of it going toward salaries and benefits for those in the police, fire, emergency 911, health, parks and recreation, and finance departments. Calculations for each department’s funding were made based on how much time those employees have spent on work related to the pandemic.

Kyle Miasek, the city’s interim finance director, said at Wednesday’s meeting that collections from the 2.75 percent income tax have taken a hit this year largely because of the pandemic and with one month left in 2020, it is $2,513,000 under budget.

But because of the federal COVID-19 funding as well as workers’ compensation rebates, money the city saved through employee furloughs earlier this year and a reduction in spending, Youngstown will not end the year with a deficit, he said.

“We’ll enter 2021 with a surplus and with a lot of uncertainty,” Miasek said.

Also Wednesday, Health Commissioner Erin Bishop said the city has seen a large spike in COVID-19 cases recently. She said about 200 cases were reported in the city in the past few days and four COVID-19 deaths in the past week.

“Where we’re seeing the increase is in private parties or weddings or gatherings” with family and friends, she said.

A bowling team had a recent spread of the virus that led to the death of one person, Bishop said.

She expressed concern about people getting together for Thanksgiving as parties were a problem on Halloween.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com