YOUNGSTOWN — City council approved spending and reprogramming more than $6 million in American Rescue Plan funds, including $3 million for a citywide roof replacement program and $2 million for property acquisition.

Council voted 6-1 Wednesday to reprogram $5 million in ARP funds from a previous $8 million allocation to abate and demolish vacant and blighted residential houses.

About 500 properties in the city need new roofs that residents cannot afford to replace, said Michael Durkin, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent. The $3 million will pay for about 250 new roofs at a cost of about $12,000 each, he said.

“Senior citizens in our community, the roofs start to go, and they don’t have the money to replace it,” Durkin said.

Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, the only council member to vote against the reprogramming legislation, said she wanted to see a long-term strategy for helping not only to fund roof replacements for lower-income residents but also for other housing improvements.

“What I’m hearing is a Band-Aid, not a cure,” she said.

Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, disagreed saying that “blue tarps” on the roofs of people’s homes are Band-Aids.

Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th Ward, also disputed Turner’s statement saying that the funding “is not a Band-Aid if water is coming down on their heads. I see this as a first step and we need to go further.”

Durkin said work is being done to assist residents with other home improvements.

The $2 million reprogramming will permit the city to buy properties for business development and to help rebuild neighborhoods, said Councilwoman Basia Adamczak, D-7th Ward.

The city administration is working on housing plans for all seven wards, Law Director Jeff Limbian said.

Council had approved using $8 million on Dec. 15, 2021, for the abatement and demolition of properties throughout the city.

The city kept the money for that work in an account but didn’t do any demolitions as it awaited word on an application for a grant through the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. The Mahoning County Land Bank on Dec. 6 was awarded $6.9 million for demolition work, including $5.3 million to take down about 450 to 500 houses in Youngstown.

The remaining $3 million in ARP demolition money will stay in that fund so the city can abate and demolish about 200 to 250 additional houses.

ARP SPENDING

Council approved $1,148,035 in ARP spending at Wednesday’s meeting by a 7-0 vote.

The largest expenses were:

l $430,685 for improvements to the playground and outdoor recreation facilities at Lynn Park on Lynn Avenue in the 7th Ward;

l $300,000 from the parks and recreation ARP fund for improvements to the play area and outdoor recreational facilities at Hillman Park, also called Falls Playground, on Falls Avenue in the 1st Ward;

$250,000 to the Western Reserve Port Authority to oversee the removal and remediation of environmental contaminants at the former McGuffey Plaza site near the intersection of McGuffey Road and North Garland Avenue.

The plaza was the pre-eminent shopping center on the city’s East Side for decades, but was empty by 2007. It was demolished in 2014.

Council voted Wednesday to rescind $300,000 in funding it approved last August to assist with the redevelopment of the east end of Federal Street.

Businesses in that area are eligible for some of the $3 million in ARP money through two programs: $1 million for facade grants and $2 million for small business revolving loans.

Penguin City Brewing Co. LLC, 460 E. Federal St., already has been approved for a $150,000 small business loan from the city.

The city received $82,775,370 in total ARP funding and has allocated about half of that amount.

OTHER LEGISLATION

Council approved a three-year contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, with the city’s nine-member garbage truck drivers union.

Starting salaries increased by 21.8 percent from $15.65 per hour to $20 per hour.

The new contract includes a new step after six months on the job to $20.50 per hour.

After one year of employment, the salary of the garbage truck drivers union goes from $15.80 per hour to $21 — a 24.8 percent increase under the contract.

Also, after two years on the job, the hourly rate increases 34 percent: from $16.05 to $21.50.

Those getting the designation of “lead driver” would receive an additional $1 per hour.

The workers will get a 2.5 percent increase starting January 2024 and then a 2.25 percent increase in January 2025. The union ratified the contract in February.

Limbian said he and Mayor Jamael Tito Brown had concerns about some of the contract language that could be “misunderstood or misapplied” by future administrations dealing with safety measures and who is put second in command.

After the two considered the contract language, they decided not to change it, Limbian said.

The contract is retroactive to the beginning of the year.

On Wednesday, council also approved an ordinance to allow the city’s board of control to enter into a $142,000 contract with Arcadis U.S. Inc.’s Cleveland office for engineering work on a proposed project to replace waterlines, several of which contain lead, to about 300 homes on the West Side as well as a water mainline with a history of breaks on Mahoning Avenue between Belle Vista and Lakeview avenues.

The actual project would cost about $4 million.

Water service lines on the south side of Mahoning Avenue are connected to this 8-inch pipe, which will be replaced with a 12-inch line.

About 300 service lines to homes on the streets on the south side of Mahoning Avenue also would be replaced.

The streets getting new lines under this proposal are South Maryland, South Portland, South Lakeview, South Evanston, Milton, Halls Heights, Eleanor, South Whitney, Mayfield, McKinley and Olson avenues and Hampton Court.

Council heard from Lynn Anderson and Susie Beiersdorfer, two members of SOBE Concerned Citizens, who again said they strongly oppose a plan by SOBE Thermal Energy Systems Inc. to shred tires, to be converted into gas to provide steam energy, for a plant at 205 North Ave., a short distance from downtown.

David Ferro, SOBE’s CEO, was scheduled also to speak Wednesday at the council meeting, but didn’t attend.

Council members, who oppose the project, said Wednesday they plan to have committee meetings to work on a formal resolution against it.