Staff file photo The South High School Fieldhouse lies in ruins after its demolition. Youngstown officials on Thursday finalized the sale of the property to be developed as a sports complex for Valley Christian High School.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control voted to finalize the sale of the former South High Fieldhouse site, create an energy improvement district for the Mahoning National Bank Building developer and pay a $651,976 bill for the emergency replacement of melted sewer lines on Wick Avenue.

The board voted 2-0 Thursday on 249 separate items with Mayor Derrick McDowell and Law Director Adam Buente participating for the first time as members of the board of control. Finance Director Kyle Miasek, a board of control member for the past eight years, was absent.

Most of the items at the hourlong meeting were “blanket purchase orders” permitting department heads to spend a certain amount of money for needed purchases of equipment and supplies throughout the year.

The board voted to finalize the sale of 2840 Erie St., the site of the demolished former South High Fieldhouse, to Valley Legends Sports Complex Inc. for $64,460, its appraised value.

City council had voted in June to sell the property to the company, run by Valley Christian High School, which wants to raise $5 million to develop it into a new football field and track facility.

But the board of control held off finalizing the sale because its members wanted to amend the deal to include project milestones.

The new deal, which council authorized Dec. 17, requires Valley Legends to break ground within two years from the date of the title transfer and to have the project “substantially complete” within five years of the transfer. If not, the city can buy back the property for the $64,460 sale price or “a market value appraisal of the property conducted no earlier than the expiration of the milestone date that triggers seller’s written notice to buyer.”

The board on Thursday also approved three items that creates an Energy Special Improvement District for 22 Market Street Ohio LLC of Monroe, N.Y., which owns the 85,000-square-foot, 115-year-old Mahoning National Bank Building on the city’s Central Square on Market Street between Boardman and Federal streets.

The company purchased the site for $2.3 million in December 2022.

Under the ESID, the building owner is receiving $5.9 million up front with nearly all of it for energy-efficient work.

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the owner would spend the next 30 years paying two annual special assessments of $287,872.49 to Mahoning County with the money turned over to Nuveen Green Capital, a Darien, Connecticut, venture capital firm that is loaning the money.

Over the 30 years, with 8.64% interest, 22 Market Street Ohio will pay $17,272,349.40 for that upfront money.

The building is undergoing an $18.5 million improvement project that will include 71 apartments on the fifth to 13th floors. The first floor, which has a scaled-down Huntington Bank, would be available for rental space and the second to fourth floors would be commercial space with professional offices.

The board also voted Thursday to pay a $651,976 bill to Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Inc. of Youngstown for emergency replacement of 410 feet of sanitary sewer lines that melted on Wick Avenue.

The project closed the street, between Wood Street and Rayen Avenue, for about two months starting in early October.

The plastic sewer line melted because of a leak in a parallel steam line owned by SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works.

Because of the leaking steam and the heat it creates, the city had to install clay or iron pipe, and chose clay, Shasho said. Clay or iron pipe is much more expensive than plastic, he said.

The city is considering suing SOBE for the expense, Shasho said.