YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider Wednesday permitting the board of control to enter into two water department contracts: one to look at changing the billing structure from cubic feet to gallons and the other for a risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan.

Requests for proposals weren’t sought for either contract as the city has worked quite a bit with the owner of R2O Consulting of Cleveland, which would do the billing structure project for $65,000, and Burgess & Niple, which would get the second project for $49,998, has extensive experience with the work, said Water Commissioner Harry L. Johnson III.

Johnson said the R20 contract would look at an alternate rate structure to go from billing customers per 100 cubic feet of water to gallons, Johnson said. About 748 gallons are in 100 cubic feet of water.

In some cases, people don’t use 100 cubic feet of water in a billing month, but that is the minimum charge. A number of those customers are lower-income so this would help reduce their water expenses, Johnson said.

“We want to look at how can we make that change so it’s more equitable for our users and maintain our current revenue stream,” he said. “We also want to make it more user-friendly by using gallons instead of cubic feet” because the typical person better understands gallons than cubic feet.

The study would take about six months to finish, Johnson said, because “we want to look at a number of different possibilities and test the system. This won’t look at raising rates. It’s looking at our current structure and do we make a change as long as we don’t impact our revenue stream.”

The city water system has about 52,000 customers with about half in Youngstown and the rest in surrounding areas, including Austintown, Boardman, Liberty and Canfield townships.

The proposed $49,998 contract with Burgess & Niple, based in Columbus, is for a variety of services, including a risk and resilience assessment, and an updated emergency response plan.

The first part would look at the water department’s assets and determine the value of them as well as the cost needed for replacement, Johnson said.

That work is required to be finished by June 30, 2026, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Johnson said, to ensure the water department is following quality standards under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and to assess potential security issues, Johnson said.

The updated emergency response plan is required to be finished by Dec. 31, 2026 under state law.

The water department last did a plan a few years ago and it needs to be updated to make sure the system can respond to various emergencies, Johnson said.

COVELLI CENTRE BUILDING

Council is being asked Wednesday to authorize the board of control to solicit prices for a proposed storage building for the city-owned Covelli Centre and Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.

The legislation is for the pre-engineered metal building and building shell, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.

That purchase will not exceed $145,000, according to the legislation.

But the city would still need to pay for the foundation, electrical and plumbing work as well as labor to put up the building, Shasho said.

The building is expected to be ready by spring, said city Finance Director Kyle Miasek.

The facilities desperately need storage, said Eric Ryan, president of JAC Management Group, which operates the facilities for the city.

“We store our chairs outside right now under the canopy on the south side (of the center, which is) causing issues,” Ryan said.

Also, the ice cover floor, the basketball court as well as equipment, such as lawn mowers, forklifts and landscaping materials, will be stored at the proposed facility, Ryan said.

That will also free up space inside the center, he said.

With the city on Jan. 2, 2024, making the last payment on the $11.9 million debt it owed towards the 2005 construction of the center, it is focusing on making improvements to the 20-year-old facility.