YOUNGSTOWN — Beating Youngstown to the punch, the Chill-Can project’s developer filed a lawsuit against the city to stop it from reclaiming a $1.5 million grant it gave the company.

The lawsuit also seeks to stop the city from seizing the company’s property and buildings.

M.J. Joseph Development Corp. and its sister company, Joseph Manufacturing Co. Inc., both of Irvine, Calif., and run by Mitchell Joseph, filed the lawsuit Monday against the city — contending Youngstown doesn’t have any legal rights to money, property and buildings because the companies haven’t met agreed-upon deadlines.

“Representatives of the city have repeatedly claimed Youngstown has powers and avenues of recourse that are not explicitly spelled out in the contracts,” Brian Kopp, the companies’ lawyer, said. “To counter those statements, we are asking the court to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties so (Joseph Development) can move forward.”

The case was assigned to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The lawsuit comes after city Law Director Jeff Limbian said Youngstown wouldn’t accept an offer from the developer of the dormant project and the next step was to file a lawsuit, likely next week.

Because of Joseph’s lawsuit, the city’s legal action may be pushed back a week, Limbian said Monday.

Regarding Joseph, Limbian said: “This is a cheap ploy to gain some type of tactical advantage. It means nothing that he’s filed first and frankly, it’s not surprising. It serves no purpose for him to get out in front of this.”

Limbian added: “The only thing this filing does is help frame the specific answers we’ll give. It strengthens our resolve. It demonstrates that he has his own interests at heart and doesn’t care two bits about the city and its taxpayers.”

Joseph offered the city $250,000 through Kopp last week under the condition the city “leave them alone with no timeline,” Limbian said. The proposal was rejected.

It was the third time in little more than a month that Kopp talked with Limbian and outside attorneys representing the city in a failed effort to iron out a deal. After that last Thursday meeting, Kopp said: “If the city wants a legal fight, we will give it to them.”

On Monday, Kopp said: “Unfortunately, the city’s rhetoric makes it extremely difficult for (Joseph Development) to achieve its stated (goals): completing the facility, hiring local residents, starting production, and making Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley a center of the company’s operations.”

In a March 29 certified letter, the city informed Joseph he had 60 days to construct a number of buildings and hire about 150 workers or it would file a lawsuit. Those 60 days end Friday.

The city’s lawsuit would seek to get back $1.5 million in water and wastewater funds given to the companies as well as the property and three buildings it has erected.

The city also gave Joseph a 10-year tax abatement, now in its fourth year, and has saved his companies about $125,000, as well as spent about $400,000 to buy 15 properties for the project.

Joseph is supposed to hire 237 workers when the plant on the East Side opens, including 150 by now, according to city records. He’s hired two people, according to the city. Joseph grew up on the East Side.

Limbian said you can tell “Mitchell Joseph is an old East Sider because he likes to throw the first punch.”

In the lawsuit, Kopp said Joseph’s companies have borrowed more than $4 million for the project.

“The project encountered construction delays for a myriad of reasons that are known to the defendant city,” Kopp wrote in the lawsuit. “Through 2020 and into 2021, plaintiff, Joseph Development, faced unforeseeable consequences as a result of the global restrictions and shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He added: “Despite allegations made publicly by city of Youngstown officials, plaintiff, Joseph Development has not abandoned the project and plans to continue the development.”

Joseph said Monday: “The future is bright for our company and we are excited about the opportunities that will accompany the end of pandemic-related restrictions. We have committed millions of our own dollars to this project and we want and need it to become an integral part of our operations. We acknowledge that there have been delays, but our global business partners continue to work with us and we hope the city will do the same.”

Joseph had said the project, which broke ground in November 2016, would cost about $18.8 million and be in full operation by 2018 to produce the world’s only self-chilling beverage can.

dskolnick@vindy.com