YOUNGSTOWN — City council has passed an ordinance to allow the Youngstown Board of Control to nearly double a payment to a Cleveland law firm that had provided legal services for the failed 20 Federal Place building project.

In a 6-0 vote during their regular meeting Wednesday, council members approved increasing an initial $25,000 payment to Bricker Graydon LLP to $49,500. On April 24, the board of control, made up of the mayor as well as the law and finance directors, agreed to make the smaller payment, which is the maximum amount the board can spend without council’s approval.

Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, was unable to attend the session.

In November 2004, the city bought the 332,000-square-foot 20 Federal Place building, which, for decades, was home to Strouss’ department store. After Strouss closed in 1986 — after having merged with the May Company — it became the Phar-Mor Centre, the corporate headquarters for Phar-Mor, the defunct discount retail business.

In July 2022, the nine-story building was about 20% occupied before eviction notices were sent to its 19 tenants, several of whom ran restaurants in its first-floor food court. For nearly three years, the partially demolished building has sat empty.

Today, the structure remains in limbo, with city officials uncertain of how or when a company can be found to redevelop it.

BRIDGE PROJECT

Also at Wednesday’s session, council unanimously approved an amendment to an ordinance approved March 19 to authorize the board of control to enter into a construction contract with the most qualified consultant for a South Avenue bridge project.

The move will allow the board to increase the cost from $170,000, as stated in the original legislation, to up to $225,000 for the rehabilitation project.

Work to design the relocation of a gas line has forced city officials to delay the bridge project’s start until about mid-2026, Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, said previously.

That part of the bridge goes over the Youngstown and Southeastern Railroad Co. train line and is close to the larger Peace Officers Memorial Bridge that runs over the Mahoning River.

Work on the bridge, which was built in 1957, will include refacing abutments, replacing approach slabs that connect the pavement to the bridge, guardrails, sidewalk, railings, curbs and pavement markings, along with its substructure. The engineer’s estimated cost was about $1.635 million.

The Federal Highway Administration has ranked the bridge as “poor” and “structurally deficient.”

In other business, council’s safety committee will consider an ordinance to authorize the board of control to approve a payment of up to $89,384 for an annual maintenance agreement with its ShotSpotter Gunshot Location and Detection System.

ShotSpotter is a high-tech system that sends notifications to alert Youngstown police to areas of gunfire on the South Side.

The city has used the technology since 2010, when the Youngstown Police Department received a $530,000 federal law enforcement grant to make the purchase.