YOUNGSTOWN — City council will vote April 17 on a settlement agreement with the owners of the former Anthony’s on the River building that was demolished in a controversial decision in August 2020.

The two sides were supposed to be in front of U.S. District Court Magistrate Carmen E. Henderson on Thursday with the city having to explain why it hadn’t paid an undisclosed settlement amount to Two Bridges LLC, the property’s owner, by a Jan. 31 deadline.

That court appearance was postponed until April 18 – the day after city council will vote on the settlement deal – at the request of Youngstown.

In a motion, Jared Wagner, an attorney from the Dayton-based Green & Green law firm working for the city on this case, wrote: “A request for authorization of the legislation necessary to complete the settlement and payment of the proceeds to plaintiff has been drafted and submitted to the city of Youngstown’s council, but will not be on the agenda until the council meeting” of April 17.

Wagner added: “A copy of that proposed legislation has been provided to counsel of record for plaintiff, Charles Dunlap, and Mr. Dunlap has agreed that the hearing on the motion to enforce the settlement be continued until after the April 17 council meeting.”

Dunlap had filed a motion to enforce the settlement on March 25 with Henderson agreeing to an in-person status conference Thursday to discuss the delay, which has since been moved to April 18 after the city filing.

Dunlap wrote in his March 25 motion that a settlement was negotiated Dec. 11 with the assistance of the federal court. Three days later, Dunlap wrote he sent the draft to James Vivo, the city’s first assistant law director, with Vivo approving it Dec. 28 and to Wagner, who made several additions.

Dunlap’s filing states the final draft was signed Jan. 23 by Two Bridges and sent to Wagner two days later.

Dunlap wrote that he sent a reminder to the city regarding the agreement and a check, and when no response was received, he filed the court motion.

Two Bridges was seeking $212,000 in damages along with attorney fees and costs in the lawsuit.

The city unsuccessfully argued it had “statutory immunity” from the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment due process provision and couldn’t be sued for demolishing the building on the corner of Oak Hill and Mahoning avenues on Aug. 22, 2020, despite not first informing the owners.

U.S. District Court Judge Benita Y. Pearson denied that motion on May 10, 2022, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th District rejected the city’s appeal on June 15, 2023, sending the case back to Pearson.

The demolition was done without first informing city council, which was going to vote four days later on paying for the emergency demolition. Several council members learned about the demolition after being contacted about it by a Vindicator reporter.

The issue upset council members who refused to pay the $48,000 demolition cost until June 2, 2021, when Jeff Limbian, then the city’s law director, said Steel Valley Contractors, the Youngstown company that did the work, was going to sue over nonpayment.

In a lawsuit filed Nov. 13, 2020, Two Bridges contended the city’s emergency demolition ordinance, which allowed the building to be taken down, violates the Ohio Constitution and Youngstown deprived it of its property without due process in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Pearson dismissed the claim that the city’s emergency demolition ordinance violates state law, but refused in that same May 10, 2022, ruling to grant summary judgment to Youngstown on the federal due process claim.

The city appealed June 2, 2022, to the 6th Circuit.

The appeals court agreed with Pearson in a June 15, 2023, ruling and sent it back to her for the trial to proceed in her court.

The city’s emergency demolition ordinance “deprived Two Bridges of its right to due process,” the decision read.

The city argued fire Chief Barry Finley, who issued the emergency demolition order, has that authority. Two Bridges contended the matter wasn’t an emergency, and the city should have held hearings to give property owners the right to appeal emergency demolition declarations.

Two Bridges owes $89,901 in delinquent property taxes. That includes $48,000 assessed against the company by city council on Jan. 5, 2022, for the demolition costs. When the lawsuit was filed, Two Bridges owed $5,402 in delinquent property taxes.

Dunlap has said the building wasn’t taken off the county property tax roll by the city, and the only property taxes owed are for the property and not the building.

The structure demolished by the city was built in 1910 and opened as Anthony’s on the River in 1997, closing about a decade later and stayed vacant. Two Bridges bought it for $100,000 on Feb. 20, 2019, contending it planned to use it for a restaurant, offices and housing.

In its lawsuit, Two Bridges said it had repaired the roof, removed debris from the building and moved an antique bar in before it was demolished.

By the time of the emergency demolition, several municipal code violations and related complaints were filed against Two Bridges, according to the appeals court decision. The city mailed multiple notices to Two Bridges in 2019 advising the building was in unacceptable condition, but sent them to the vacant building and no one from Two Bridges received any notices, the court decision reads.

Finley and Michael Durkin, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent, inspected the building on June 12, 2020, to determine if it posed a fire hazard.

They observed the roof had apparently sunk about 6 to 12 inches on all sides. Finley concluded on June 12, 2020, it was a fire hazard and danger to human life.

It was demolished Aug. 22, 2020.

Also, Ronald Eiselstein, Two Bridge’s co-owner, is delinquent on several properties and has had several issues with the city over the years including zoning violations, a misdemeanor conviction for taking down trees without permission and owning dilapidated buildings.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.