YOUNGSTOWN — The federal government “successfully finalized a proposed resolution” to Youngstown’s plan to reduce a major wastewater improvement project, but asked a judge to give it until Aug. 26 to consider any public comments on the deal.

But a Friday federal court filing also asks for the sides to have until Aug. 26 to negotiate a $739,500 penalty sought from the city.

In the Friday joint filing, attorneys for all the parties involved in the case — the federal government, state of Ohio and Youngstown — stated “they have successfully finalized a proposed resolution of the city of Youngstown’s amended motion to modify consent decree and that they continue their efforts to find a resolution of the United States’ motion for stipulated penalties. The parties have agreed to a proposed consent decree amendment.”

That proposed agreement was filed June 6 with Judge Christopher A. Boyko of the U.S. District Court’s Northern District of Ohio.

The federal government had wanted the city to build a 100-million-gallon-per-day wet weather facility. That structure would treat excess combined sewage during heavy rainstorms and then release the water.

The city argued the structure was too large and expensive. It suggested an 80-million-gallon-per-day facility.

While the federal government had previously rejected a reduction in the scope of the work, Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, told The Vindicator on May 30 that the federal government had agreed to the city’s request to build the facility to handle 80 million gallons per day.

The June 6 filing by the federal government confirmed that with the city also agreeing to “cloth-disk filter media technology for high-rate treatment of wet weather flows.” The filter removes solids from water.

The city of Youngstown and the state of Ohio approved the modifications to the project, according to an April 22 status report filed with Boyko.

In the June 6 court filing, the federal government agreed to reduce the size of the wet weather facility because the city is diverting 35.5 million gallons of combined sewage annually into the Mahoning River in an ongoing project, costing $10.47 million, as well as an earlier deadline on the wet weather facility and a compressed schedule on an interceptor sewer project to keep wastewater from 13 lines from flowing into Mill Creek Park’s Lake Glacier and Lake Cohasset.

The city agreed months ago to the earlier deadline and compressed schedule.

In Friday’s filing, the federal government said it opened public comment June 12 on the proposed resolution with that window closing July 14.

Friday’s filing reads: “The parties believe that an additional extension of the stay until Aug. 26 would provide sufficient time for the United States to consider any public comments on the proposed consent decree amendment and advise the court and the other parties as to the United States’ final position on” it.

This is the fourth request of the parties for Boyko for an extension. He has quickly agreed to the other three. There is little reason to believe he won’t grant this one, particularly with the two sides settling on the reduced size of the wet weather facility.

That facility is at the center of the dispute stemming from a 2014 consent decree.

In a March 15, 2024, motion by the city to reopen the consent decree, objecting to the size of the wet weather facility.

The project’s initial estimate was $62 million, but is now more than $240 million, according to a Nov. 12 amended motion to modify the consent decree filing from attorney Terrence S. Finn of the Roetzel & Andress law firm in Akron, which represents the city.

The city hasn’t determined the cost of a smaller facility.

What continues to remain unresolved, according to the latest court filing, is the federal government’s demand for half of a $1,479,000 penalty from Youngstown to be paid to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because the city supposedly “defaulted” on following through with federally mandated wastewater improvements on a timely basis.

The penalty was first brought up in a Sept. 29, 2023, letter from an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The city has refused to pay. The other half — $739,500 — could be sought by the Ohio EPA, which has declined to seek the penalty and has largely sided with Youngstown during the court proceedings.

Both Friday’s and April 22’s status report stated the city and the federal government “have exchanged correspondence regarding the United States’ stipulated penalties claim.”

Friday’s court filing states the extension to Aug. 26 will allow the two sides “to continue negotiations over the stipulated penalties motion and it will promote the interests of judicial economy.”

PROJECTS

The federal EPA had 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 tried to get that price down further, but federal authorities refused those requests, resulting in the reopened court case.

The schedule attached to Finn’s Nov. 12 filing has all of the work done by Oct. 1, 2035.

Also, the city insists in court filings and interviews that if Youngstown complied with the mandates now the cost would be about $380 million to $400 million — well over twice what it agreed to do 11 years ago.

The first phase was upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment plant that have been completed.

The initial construction estimate was $37.3 million, but the city said it cost $70 million.

That work helped reduce the sewer overflows that would be part of the wet weather facility project, the city’s court filing states.

The wet weather facility was supposed to be phase two of the work, but the city bypassed it.

The city approved $4.8 million on March 15, 2024, for design work for what was supposed to be the third phase. That phase is an interceptor sewer project to keep wastewater from 13 lines from flowing into two Mill Creek Park lakes.

Design work was supposed to start July 11, 2020, and construction was to begin April 5, 2024.

The city missed those deadlines but plans a compressed schedule with that work finished by Oct. 16, 2032. The June 6 filing stated the completion date is now Sept. 29, 2032.

That phase was estimated to cost $47.7 million and will now cost $72.5 million to $87.2 million, according to city estimates.

The city’s board of control on April 24 hired Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Inc. of Youngstown for $90,000 to serve as “construction manager at risk” for the first two of four phases of an interceptor sewer project.

Marucci & Gaffney also will serve as the contractor on the first two phases with the price to be negotiated.

The first two phases are estimated to cost about $50 million though the city is looking to lower that amount.

The city hired MS Consultants of Youngstown last year for $4.8 million to design the interceptor. That work is finished — which designs about 90% of the project — with Marucci & Gaffney finishing the design and then doing the project.

Construction is expected to start early next year. That phase will finish a year ahead of schedule. The June 6 filing put the completion date as Sept. 7, 2030.