Staff file photo / Ed Runyan The Chill-Can property on Youngstown’s East Side.

YOUNGSTOWN — The developer of the stalled Chill-Can project says he needs more time to complete the work, but city officials remain unmoved by the request.

“Time is needed to complete the construction phase of the Youngstown complex and hire Valley residents so that we may begin to manufacture and distribute product,” said Mitchell Joseph, CEO of M.J. Joseph Development Corp., which owns the Chill-Can property, in a prepared statement issued Wednesday by his attorney.

Joseph didn’t say how much time is needed.

Brian Kopp, the company’s attorney, said: “They’re in the process of ramping back up. I don’t have the ability to give a timeline, but they have no intentions of walking away. They’re trying to get a timeline in place.”

City officials on March 31 said Joseph had 60 days to construct a number of buildings and hire about 150 workers or the city would file a lawsuit. That lawsuit could seek to get back $1.5 million in water and wastewater funds given to the company, as well as repeal a 10-year tax abatement and about $400,000 the city paid to purchase properties for the project. The city could also seek to take ownership of the site.

‘RHETORIC’

In his statement, Joseph blamed construction delays largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But, he added, the company has “made the adjustments necessary to endure the crisis, and we anticipate our core operations will return to pre-pandemic levels as the U.S. and global economy has interrupted our supply chains, disrupted our operations and affected our suppliers, vendors and customers.”

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and Law Director Jeff Limbian said they’ve heard all this before from Joseph, and there were problems before the pandemic.

“It’s the same rhetoric we’ve heard from Mitchell Joseph and now from Brian Kopp,” Limbian said. “It’s interesting that that announcement would go out two days before we meet with Mr. Kopp. We’ll certainly discuss those issues” Friday.

Joseph Houser, an attorney hired by the city to handle the Joseph concerns, will also be at Friday’s meeting with Limbian and Kopp.

Limbian added: “The fact is Mitchell Joseph has failed miserably for the three years (this administration has) been here and not just during the pandemic. We’d be happy to hear some great news Friday, but we’re not optimistic.”

Brown said: “I need action, and we need jobs. We can talk about what’s causing the delay and we’ve talked about that. He’s had benchmarks, and he’s not met them. This project started in 2016. There are consequences. I need to see action. If not, we’ll take legal action.”

Brown said Joseph promised to have the facility operating by now and has failed.

“We removed a whole neighborhood for this, and we have nothing to show for it except three buildings,” Brown said.

LEGAL REMEDIES

Kopp said he looks “forward to meeting with the lawyers for the city, and I am confident that a mutually acceptable plan exists. However, if the city refuses to acknowledge the difficulties caused by the pandemic, I am prepared to defend the interests of the (Joseph company) and seek all legal remedies available to it.”

Joseph had said the project would cost about $18.8 million and be in full operation by 2018 to produce the world’s only self-chilling beverage can. The can allows a drink to be chilled in less than a minute by turning a knob on the bottom.

City records show Joseph has spent about $3.8 million.

In his Wednesday statement, Joseph said his company has “invested $5 million of our own funds into the project.”

Joseph said: “I want to assure the people of the Mahoning Valley, especially the residents of the city of Youngstown, that we have never wavered in our commitment to the Chill-Can Beverage and Technology project.”

He also said: “We will continue to do whatever is necessary to make the East Side facility a center of innovation and manufacturing.”

Joseph’s company is based in Irvine, Calif., but he grew up in Youngstown and the Chill-Can location is where his great-grandfather founded and operated Star Bottling Co. from 1921 to 1970.

“There were many unanticipated difficulties developing a company in Youngstown from Irvine, Calif.,” Kopp said. “There were plenty of options, but he wants to be in Youngstown.”

The city gave Joseph’s company $1.5 million in water and wastewater funds, spent about $400,000 to take possession of 15 properties at and near the Chill-Can site from landowners and gave the company a 10-year, 75-percent real property tax abatement. The company has received about four years worth of abatements, saving about $125,000, according to city records.

“I don’t think anyone wins if this goes to court,” Kopp said. “If the city takes this to court, the Joseph Co. has options, too.”

The company was supposed to hire 237 people by Nov. 1, 2022, including 150 by now, according to city records.

Joseph has hired two people for the dormant property, according to city records.

dskolnick@vindy.com