YOUNGSTOWN — Seven weeks after first being asked to approve spending up to $1.95 million on sanitary sewer improvements to a site in the Salt Springs Road Business Park, city council approved the legislation.

Council voted 7-0 Wednesday in favor of the request from the Mayor Derrick McDowell administration after finally receiving some financial details on a potential project at the 12-acre site on Exal Court.

Top Property Holdings LLC of North Lima, which developed the 45-acre North Jackson Commerce Park that landed its first tenant earlier this year, is interested in the Youngstown property.

Finance Director Kyle Miasek told council the installation of a pump station to the Exal Court site in the Salt Springs Road Business Park is needed for potential development.

After the pump station is installed, Top Property could construct a 40,000-square-foot building.

Then, another three 40,000-square-foot buildings could be built at the location, Miasek said.

The buildings could each house one business or be split for two or four businesses to locate there, Miasek said.

Each building would employ about 35 full-time employees with an annual payroll of about $2.1 million each, Miasek said. The city collects a 2.75% income tax, so that would translate to about $57,750 annually a year per building.

The city also would receive about $25,000 a year in water and wastewater fees as well as make money from selling the property, Miasek said.

At a May 13 council committee meeting, Miasek said he expected the cost of installing the sanitary sewer pump station, which would likely be less than the $1.95 million estimate, to be paid off in about six years from income tax revenue as well as water and wastewater fees.

Council first heard the request for the pump station funding at its April 15 meeting and referred it to committee for further discussion with some members vocally skeptical about spending the money without a project at the location.

After the May 13 committee meeting, council members postponed a vote at its May 20 meeting with members saying they needed the McDowell administration to package the revenue information, which Miasek provided Wednesday.

Miasek said Wednesday that the hope is the project, to be called the Youngstown Technology Park, would be ready by spring 2028.

If Top Property doesn’t move forward, Miasek said with the sanitary sewer work, the site would be “shovel-ready” for a different project.