YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control signed off on paying $10,008 to the Mahoning County sheriff for costs associated with Youngstown’s purchase of the failed Chill-Can property.

The board voted 3-0 Thursday to approve the payment related to the cost of the city obtaining the property.

“It’s costs associated with the transaction,” said Jason Small, a city senior assistant law director. “There is an endless series of small steps with this process. We’ve taken possession of the property.”

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court signed an order July 2 confirming the sale of the property to the city and issued a writ of possession to place Youngstown in possession of the 21-acre site on the lower East Side.

The city purchased the property at a Feb. 18 sheriff’s sale with the minimum purchase price of $1,379,580, two-thirds of the county auditor’s value of the property.

Finalizing the sale was complicated by the 86 parcels at the site, with 26 already owned by the city and two by a former official with M.J. Joseph Development Corp., the Chill-Can’s parent company, Small said.

The city used most of the $1.5 million it is owed by M.J. Joseph in a court decision — with interest, that amount increased to $1,600,900 — as well as that it owns numerous properties in and around the Chill-Can site to purchase it. The city submitted the only bid for the property at the sheriff’s sale.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said he wants to convert the property into an industrial park.

Mitchell Joseph, the head of M.J. Joseph and its sister companies, claimed when the project broke ground in November 2016 that it would cost $18.8 million to build.

The city had envisioned the business as leading an economic revival of the area with Joseph saying the facility would be in operation by 2018 producing the world’s only self-chilling beverage can with four buildings and 237 jobs by Aug. 31, 2021.

But there are three unfinished buildings and no employees at the abandoned location.

Joseph walked away from the project about five years ago and abandoned his legal fight in early 2024.

Durkin ruled Nov. 25 in favor of Youngstown and MS Consultants Inc., the two lead plaintiffs in the foreclosure case against M.J. Joseph — which exists only on paper — as well as for the county treasurer’s office that a sheriff’s sale could be held using the county auditor’s value for the lots.

Durkin ruled Aug. 22 that M.J. Joseph owes $1.5 million to Youngstown and $322,908 to MS, as well as $2,650 in court fees to the two and the delinquent taxes.

The city, which didn’t expect M.J. Joseph to pay, used most of the $1.5 million, which grew to $1,600,900 with interest, to purchase the site.

The city is owed the $1.5 million for water and wastewater grants it gave M.J. Joseph in 2017 to develop the property.

MS is owed the $322,908 for unpaid design work on the supposed project.

Youngstown filed a $2.8 million lawsuit June 17, 2021, contending M.J. Joseph failed to live up to its promises to develop the site.

In a March 29, 2021, certified letter, the city informed Joseph he had 60 days to construct a number of buildings and hire about 150 workers or it would file a lawsuit.

OTHER BUSINESS

The board of control on Thursday also voted 3-0 to enter into a $140,000 contract with MS Consultants to provide consultation and engineering services for the Belmont Avenue corridor plan.

The plan would take about a year to complete and seeks to increase transportation accessibility and support ongoing and further economic development along the corridor in Youngstown and Liberty.

The board also agreed to pay $10,000 to Hunter Morrison, the city’s retired planning consultant, for planning, development and project management of the corridor plan.

The plan received $200,000 from the state Appalachian Community Grant Program.

The board also renewed a $60,000 annual contract with CS Public Affairs of Canfield, run by Andy Resnick for “a strategic communications plan to assure coordinated communication from the city to present a positive image.”

The city hired CS in June 2024 with the contract renewal retroactive to June 1.

Among Resnick’s responsibilities are handling media inquiries, writing news releases for the city, providing strategic communications counsel, social media management and promoting city services and programs.