YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider today creating a 34.4-acre Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area for downtown restaurants and bars to sell alcohol for outdoor consumption.

The proposal would require alcohol to be sold in specific plastic cups 4 to 11 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 11 p.m. Saturdays. Special hours of DORA operation would be permitted in advance by the mayor with the consent of city council under the proposal.

The DORA approval “will serve to enhance the experiences of patrons of city business establishments and the attendees of special events held within the city,” according to the proposed legislation sponsored by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown.

The proposed DORA location would include nearly all of downtown, including the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.

The city has considered a DORA for about five years.

In a July 23 letter to city council and administration officials, Douglas W. Ross, attorney for the owner of Avalon Downtown Pizzeria, 17 W. Federal St., wrote that his client opposes the DORA.

In the letter, Ross wrote that before a DORA could be established, a “significant enhancement of the police presence” is needed and there’s been “a steady decline” in downtown police patrols since the Avalon opened on West Federal Street 12 years ago.

“The Avalon has concerns regarding an increase in alcohol consumption in the area, the transient nature of the patronage and alcohol consumption that a DORA facilitates and the oversight challenges it brings to businesses to monitor the DORA alcohol consumption,” he wrote.

While Avalon serves alcohol, Ross wrote it wouldn’t participate in the DORA and asked the city to remove it from any advertising or promotional material concerning the area.

Council also is going to consider today a request sponsored by Brown to approve a 5% annual wastewater rate increase for four years, starting Jan. 1.

The new rate increase would be used to cover $34.9 million in design work for a “wet weather facility” to reduce combined sewer overflows, and $2.3 million more needed for the design phase of an interceptor sewer to stop wastewater from flowing into Mill Creek Park.

The rate increase would also go toward the city’s debt for sewer improvement work.

That rate increase wouldn’t include more than $300 million in costs for construction work under a federal improvement mandate at the center of a court dispute between the city and the federal government.

An average city wastewater customer is charged $79.09 per month for the processing of 500 cubic feet of wastewater. Under the proposal, that amount would go to $83.05 in January and to $96.14 on Jan 1, 2028.

REALTY ITEMS

There are two items on today’s agenda related to the former Realty Tower, a downtown structure damaged in a May 28 explosion and subsequently demolished.

One ordinance is to pay $259,700 to Pro Quality Demolition of Youngstown for emergency services during the explosion.

That includes, according to the ordinance, labor and equipment for search and rescue operations, assisting with the initial structural assessment of the building, assisting the National Transportation Safety Board, attendance at various meetings about the structure and providing temporary lighting and a field office.

The other Realty legislation is to permit the board of control to enter into a professional services agreement with a consultant for $38,295 to provide design services and preparation of bid documents and specifications for repairs to Commerce, East Federal and Market streets.

The streets are on and near the explosion site and were heavily damaged because of the explosion and the demolition work.

The city wants to have that work start in September and be done by November, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works.

That work includes fixing the street, sidewalk, an island, and curbs and lights that were damaged, Shasho said.

Council will consider an ordinance today to waive formal bidding and pay $175,000 to Daniel A. Terreri & Sons of Youngstown for emergency repair work after the floor and wall between the upper two floors of the nine-story 20 Federal Place separated.

The work should be finished by the end of September, Shasho said.

Until the building is stabilized, Commerce Street behind 20 Federal Place will remain closed, he said.

Terreri recently finished a $7.4 million project at the city-owned building at 20 W. Federal St. that included asbestos remediation and partial demolition.

City officials don’t know what caused the separation, but stabilizing is needed, Shasho said.

The city has a Sept. 16 deadline for interested companies to submit proposals to redevelop the building that used to be the Phar-Mor Centre and before that the flagship location of Strouss’ department store.

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