CANFIELD — City council has approved starting the design work for Phases 2 and 3 of the Red Gate Sanitary Sewer Project so officials can put a price tag on the project.

City Manager Wade Calhoun said the design segment would cost $183,946 for Phase 2, and $120,076 for Phase 3. The loan to fund the design work would come from the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund and would be needed before moving into the construction phase.

“The design will determine what the cost of construction will be,” Calhoun said at Wednesday’s council meeting.

He told council there is no way to know how much construction would cost at this point. He did say that when the design and planning are done, the costs could be added into a construction loan.

Resident Frank Micchia, during the public comment portion of the meeting, mentioned the “three-to-one defeat” of the school bond levy in the May 3 primary election.

That levy was tied to a plan under which the city agreed to give the schools nearly 100 acres of the Red Gate Farm property in exchange for nine acres from the Canfield Middle School property and the bus garage.

“If the issue had passed, the city could justify spending over $2 million to get water and sewer lines to Red Gate since that was part of the deal. I wonder if the residents realized we would have to borrow the money. Borrowing $107 million to be paid back over 37 years was a long shot. The ball is back in your court,” Micchia said.

“We are trying to do what is best for the community as a whole. If we don’t develop Red Gate, our income tax will be going up. We need growth for a bigger tax base,” Councilman Anthony Nacarato said.

“If we didn’t think the property would do anything, we wouldn’t be putting money into it. Please don’t look on it negatively,” Mayor Don Dragish replied to Micchia’s comments.

Micchia also said he first came to a council meeting 10 years ago to complain about speeding on Glenview Road.

“Once again, I would like to announce that Glenview Speedway is open for the season,” he said. “Forty miles per hour is pretty common.”

Glenview is posted at 25 mph.

CITY WINS LAWSUIT

In other business, city attorney Mark Fortunato read the verdict in a civil case dating back to 2021, when former Canfield schools Superintendent Alex Geordan filed a lawsuit against Canfield police Chief Chuck Colucci and the city claiming defamation of character.

The city won the lawsuit, and Fortunato read the decision of Magistrate James A. Melone.

“Chief Colucci issued a public statement regarding the results of an investigation conducted by the (sheriff’s office) that found Plaintiff (Geordan) to have been misleading and untruthful. Even if the reporting of the investigation’s conclusions (and not the conclusions themselves) prompted the termination or resignation of Plaintiff, the Court finds Chief Colucci was certainly justified in doing so. The investigation was of great public interest and reporting of its conclusions was within the purview of the chief of police and necessary for transparency and to uphold the public trust. Thus Chief Colucci was justified in issuing a statement regarding the results of the investigation.”

In December 2019, Geordan resigned in the wake of criticism over how he handled school threats and informed police. Canfield police said Geordan had a history of failing to report serious threats.

Fortunato continued, “As the Court grants summary judgement on all of Plaintiff’s claims, this matter is hereby dismissed. Costs to Plaintiff.”

Fortunato said Geordan has the right to file objections within 14 days, but as of the city’s Wednesday meeting, had not done so. Fortunato said he thinks it should be made known that the city prevailed.