YOUNGSTOWN — The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has responded to another challenge from the group opposing relocation of the Poland branch.

A news release distributed to local media on Tuesday calls for the PLYMC Board of Trustees to reconsider its decision to build a new library along Denver Drive near state Route 170 and close the 25-year-old building at 311 S. Main St. in Poland Village.

The Save Our Library committee asserts that new information has come to light that would make the project cost prohibitive. The library states that most of the costs and factors have already been considered and the decision will not be reversed.

“PLYMC’s Board of Trustees voted on April 29 to move forward on plans to relocate the Poland Branch of the PLYMC. The Board took over a year to review and assess the information presented to us,” said Board President Carol Weimer. “We met with staff, experts, members of the public and elected officials and considered all options and heard all opinions. It was not an easy decision, but a decision that serves the entirety of Mahoning County.”

The Save Our Library news release, sent by committee chair Maria Pappas, addresses the current lack of sanitary sewer service at the site, and alleges that some project costs were not fully disclosed or considered during the April 29 vote.

“Significant new information has come to light…regarding the proposed Denver Drive site. We have learned that sanitary sewer service is not currently available to the property and that a costly sanitary sewer mainline extension would be required before development can proceed there,” the release states. “In addition, since the Board’s relocation vote, community members have learned that several project-related costs were not fully reflected in the information available during the April 29 deliberations, including professional design and architectural expenses and other costs associated with developing a new facility.”

The preferred location, which is still privately owned and zoned residential, is a 4.25-acre plot of land that sits 1.1 miles away in Poland Township and would cost the library $360,000 to purchase. At the April meeting, PLYMC Executive Director and CEO Aimee Fifarek said site preparation costs would be about $1.57 million, and the estimated cost of building the new branch would be between $4.8 million and $8.8 million, putting the total estimated cost for the new library at between $6.3 million and $9.6 million.

In April, when trustees voted on the move, Fifarek said the construction estimate did not include design costs; new furniture, shelving and materials collection; actual relocation costs; or permitting fees.

The board’s motion to approve the purchase included a contingency that such considerations as sewer line access, zoning, utility costs, and other matters that have not yet been fully vetted, be analyzed in depth before the board votes on final approval of the plot.

MS Consultants also provided an itemized list of additional “probable” construction costs totaling about $1.5 million, which was included in the publicly available information packet Fifarek presented to trustees in April.

Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer Zak Kozberg said the library is still gathering information on the project, which – if finalized – is not due to break ground for at least two to three years, once construction of the new Struthers branch is well underway.

He said PLYMC has done its due diligence and will continue to do so.

“It’s incredibly naive to assume that an institution of this size and complexity, at this stage, would not make great efforts to address every single issue and every single obstacle before a project of this size began. We’re in the business of information and we’re trying to collect all the information,” he said. “We’ve been building libraries for more than 100 years in Mahoning County. Do you really think we would overlook the sewage question when planning to build a new branch in Poland? But this isn’t about sewage lines. This is about unfairly distributing taxpayer dollars to one community at the expense of Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, Youngstown, Struthers, and all the rest of the county. We represent 100% of the county.”

Kozberg reiterated the library’s position that the relocation of Poland was based on the best possible understanding of the situation at that building and how it affects the entire library system.

“PLYMC cannot ask 93% of the county to subsidize with their taxpayer dollars a building so deeply flawed that it will cost up to $280,000 a year to maintain. There are communities in Mahoning County that don’t have a physical branch. Poland will not be one of them,” he said.

Library records show that Poland requires, on average, $150,000 of maintenance annually, but those costs were more than $193,000 in 2024 and about $211,000 in 2025. In its commissioned report to the board, MS Consultants estimated that with an expected 4% annual increase, the branch would cost PLYMC $8.4 million in continued maintenance costs over the next 30 years. Based on the annual increase estimate, maintenance costs in year 20 exceed $315,000 and in year 30 top $470,000. That’s compared to $3.6 million over the same span for a newly built 16,000-square-foot facility, with a lower estimated annual cost increase percentage.

The group continues to insist that the current building is “not a failing facility” and could be renovated more inexpensively than the $7.3-million figure the library has given. They suggest that those renovations also would mitigate the annual maintenance costs.

Longtime Valley general contractor Ted Downie stated that he believes the work also could be done without entirely relocating operations for two years as Fifarek has asserted would be necessary.

The committee states that the “new information” should obligate the board to reconsider its decision at Thursday’s meeting, and hold open discussions with the committee and other members of the community.

“The Committee respectfully requests that the Board of Trustees and library administration engage in meaningful two-way communication with community stakeholders. Despite the significant public interest surrounding this issue, there has been little opportunity for direct dialogue between library leadership and the organized citizens advocating for preservation of the current branch,” the release states.

The move has drawn the ire of Poland Village officials; Mahoning County Commissioners; State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, whose proposed legislation to undermine only the Mahoning County library board’s authority and punitively deny them funding was roundly criticized by his colleagues in a committee hearing; and embattled Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael Ciccone, who last week demanded annual reports he said the library willfully withheld. In a public statement about the reports on Facebook, he attacked Fifarek and the library for the Poland decision. The library provided the documents in printed and emailed copies on Monday.

Kozberg said that at Thursday’s meeting, Fifarek will discuss sewer line connection concerns that affect both the Struthers and Poland projects. Struthers has imposed a full moratorium on new connections to the sewer lines served by the city’s wastewater treatment plant, maintaining that the facility is at capacity and allowing more inflow would violate its EPA mandates and licensure.

He reiterated that the Poland project is at least two years from breaking ground and the library is exploring all options for wastewater management.