YOUNGSTOWN — Using American Rescue Plan funds, the city’s board of control approved a $4.8 million contract with MS Consultants Inc. to design an interceptor sewer to stop wastewater from flowing into Mill Creek Park.

The board also voted Thursday to approve a $443,652 contract for basement vault remediation under a portion of Federal Street so an improvement project above ground can be done and a $41,200 deal for an architectural firm to design and prepare bid documents for work on city hall’s second floor.

The contract with MS is to do detailed design work for the first two of the project’s four phases as well as preliminary design work for the third and fourth phases, Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works, said.

The interceptor sewer work will cost about $70 million and start in either 2025 or 2026. It is expected to take about six or seven years to complete.

The work is part of the city’s $160 million worth of wastewater improvements it is required to do under a 2014 settlement it reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA originally ordered the city in 2002 to do $310 million worth of work, but it was negotiated down to $160 million in 2014 with the expectation it would be finished in 20 years.

The city has tried to get that price down further, but federal authorities have rejected those requests.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Sept. 29 demanded half of a $1.4 million penalty from Youngstown because the city “defaulted” on following through with federally mandated wastewater improvements for more than two years. The other half of the penalty was to go to the Ohio EPA if that agency asked for it. The city hasn’t paid the penalty.

The letter from Pedro Segura, a trial attorney with the DOJ’s environmental enforcement division, informed city officials the department had assessed the penalty for not starting two of the three required projects. He wrote the federal and state governments “reserve their rights to assess and collect further penalties and pursue added remedies for these violations” because the city has violated the consent decree since June 30, 2021.

The first phase improved the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The city skipped the second phase, which is a new facility near the treatment plant and elsewhere to better control sewage in heavier rainfalls.

The $4.8 million to MS is for the design of the third phase, which would replace 13 overflows that dump wastewater into Mill Creek’s Lake Glacier and Lake Cohasset and build an interceptor, Shasho said.

The interceptor project was supposed to start in December 2019 under the agreed-upon plan. The work to control sewage in heavier rainfalls was supposed to start in February 2022.

OTHER CONTRACTS

The board also approved a $443,652 contract with Guardian Fence and Construction LLC of Nicholasville, Kentucky, to remediate basement vaults underneath the south side of West Federal Street from Market to Phelps streets.

The project should be completed by mid-May, Shasho said.

Work to Federal Street from Phelps to Champion streets was stopped last year as part of a $27.6 million project on several downtown streets that began in July 2020 and received $10.8 million in federal funding.

The city had to pull that section of Federal Street from the project because several basements were discovered to be in the right of way on sidewalks, Shasho said.

The Federal Street work includes repaving, realignment of curbs, new crosswalks, new lighting, wider sidewalks and changes to parking.

Federal Street, between Champion and Market streets, will be closed for about four months, starting Monday, for street improvement work.

The work between Phelps and Market streets will likely begin shortly after the underground project starts, Shasho said.

The board also voted Thursday to hire A Neider Architecture LLC of Canfield for $41,200 for architectural design services and prepare bid documents to hire a contractor for work on city hall’s second floor.

The city plans to spend about $500,000 to renovate the former clerk of courts space left empty about six years ago into new offices for the community planning and economic development department by next year, Shasho said.

The board rejected a $271,000 proposal from APBN Inc. of Pulaski, Pa., to paint the railing and street light poles on the Canfield Road Bridge over Lanterman’s Mill.

The city’s estimate for the work was $125,000.

This was the second time the city sought proposals for the work. After making adjustments to the bid specifications, APBN was the lone company to seek the job and the price was considerably higher than estimated, Shasho said.

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