POLAND — The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County is once more responding to allegations made by opponents of its decision to move the Poland branch.

This time, the staff said, it’s become personal.

“We have been very adamant and very careful to not use individuals’ names,” said Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer Zak Kozberg. “And not only have they taken shots at our board and our staff, but also at me.”

On Thursday, library staff responded to claims made by members of the Save Our Library committee on the “Ron Verb Show” on WKBN Radio on Tuesday.

Kozberg, Chief Operations Officer Jordan Shaver, Strategic Communications Officer Michael Stepp and members of the library’s board of trustees first addressed a claim made by Poland Township Trustee Frank DeMain, who told Verb that PLYMC has not responded to any of his efforts to discuss the matter with them.

“What he omitted was that he had lunch with our board vice president last week, where they discussed the Poland branch, and plans were made to arrange a more formal discussion with PLYMC administrators,” Kozberg said. “He just flat out didn’t share that.”

Board VP Mariel Sallee also confirmed the meeting.

“Frank DeMain called me on Thursday, July 9 to set up a lunch meeting. It was productive, and we discussed the fiscal situation surrounding the Poland branch, and we are actively working to arrange a more formal meeting,” she said.

Kozberg also said library officials have met with the committee many times.

“Not only did we meet with Save our Library representatives on April 9, 2026, but members were also invited on a guided tour of the Poland facility in November 2025 along with elected leaders. This is in addition to the community feedback meeting at Poland, attended by a standing room only crowd, on June 24, 2025.”

Ron Strollo, Youngstown State University athletic director, and chair of the library board’s building and sites committee elaborated: “Myself along with [board member] Tom Frost and PLYMC COO Jordan Shaver met with Larry Bartos, as well as Dave and Joan Smith, then key members of the Save Our Library Committee. We again listened to their point of view and their opinions on the Poland Branch of PLYMC.”

Kozberg told The Vindicator that if members of the SOL committee are willing to lie about this matter, then their assertions about the rest of the dispute must also be called into question.

Shaver produced responses to several claims made on the talk show, and the library is continuing to research each allegation to provide evidence-based responses.

On the “Ron Verb Show” on Tuesday, Verb – speaking to 4M Company President Bob Mastriano – said, “It was built on bedrock. It is not sinking. The part in the back where it was raised up an inch or two, because of the creek, and [they] built that wall, without asking you, it created hydrostatic [pressure] on the very back section and raised the floor up. That can be fixed by fixing the wall, as opposed to abandoning the building. That’s just BS.”

Shaver cited an Aug. 7, 2024, technical report from Geotechnical Consultants Inc. that summarized the company’s study of slab coring and shallow hand borings. The consultants said samples showed expansion between 5.4% and 5.8%, with expansion still occurring,

“Page 11 also addressed remediation stating: ‘the only way to completely eliminate the expansion potential is to remove slag-based materials, in their entirety, from below the slab.”

Open-hearth slag – common to the Mahoning Valley given that it is a byproduct of the steel manufacturing process – appears to have been used as backfill under Poland’s branch. The material expands greatly when exposed to moisture.

The proximity to Yellow Creek as well as drainage problems at the library, among other concerns about the building’s design, seem to have exposed the slag to constant dampness.

Mastriano’s company designed the Poland, Austintown and East branches, all of which PLYMC staff say represent a disproportionate amount of the library’s annual maintenance budget.

Mastriano took ownership of the buildings, but placed the blame for the buildings’ faults on the library’s own maintenance practices.

“I’ve done hundreds of buildings, and we’ve had not one issue with all of them all these years for my whole career. And yet the three buildings that I did for the libraries … they have one common element that’s very odd and that is, that has to do with the same issue of lack of maintenance,” he said. “So no matter what style of architecture or details, whether it’s historic, traditional, contemporary, they fall under the tutelage of this board and that all creates the same problems due to lack of maintenance.”

Shaver said, “It is an incorrect statement to claim that poor maintenance is the cause for the issues at Poland, East and Austintown. All facilities in our library system are maintained to a high standard,” he said. “The primary objective for all maintenance is to ensure all buildings are safe for patrons and staff.”

On March 7, The Vindicator outlined maintenance costs PLYMC has incurred for several of its branches. Since 2024, next to the main branch [$679,000], Poland [more than $492,000] and Austintown [just under $424,500] have been the most expensive to maintain. East has also presented a significant cost – $104,000 in maintenance along with a roughly $1.1-million renovation.

Shaver added, “The Library has just completed the East project, which solved water intrusion issues due to design features including a lack of gutters and downspouts, an unusual exterior finish material; palladium coating painted over top OSB SIP panels, as well as poor grading, and a roof system that can not be vented,’ he said. “With this project completed, we can confidently say that none of the issues at East were caused by poor maintenance or lack of maintenance.”

He said PLYMC is now investigating the causes for water infiltration at Austintown with The Thrasher Group, an architecture firm with experience in complicated roof systems.

Mastriano said the Library had ruined Poland and East with refreshed interior design projects and is going to do the same with Austintown.

Shaver countered, saying, “This is not a refresh investigation, but an attempt to keep water, water damage and the possibilities for wood rot and mold from occurring in a building that is roughly 25 years old,” Shaver said. “The entry glass ceiling has been prone to leaks since opening, and the difficult-to-access rooftop pits where the [rooftop unit] mechanicals are located have shown signs of failure which will need remedied sooner than later. If, during this process, the library chooses to replace carpet and update interior finishes, it will be part of the larger, functional portion of the project.”

The new library planned for Poland — tentatively slated for an as-yet-unpurchased parcel along state Route 170 and Denver Drive — would be smaller but with a higher proportion of usable space and be less expensive to maintain, library officials have said.

Mastriano told Verb the new building would be a downgrade, to which Verb replied, “So it’s going to cost more, be half the size and not as spectacular.”

Shaver said, “One of the larger issues with the current branch is its size — 35,610 square feet with only 18,220 square feet of functional library space. The additional space includes 2,530 square feet for a non-ADA compliant unusable catwalk, tenant spaces, terraces and [mechanical, electrical and plumbing] spaces,” he said. “Because the library has not yet invested in architectural design services for a new branch, it is difficult to assume that any new construction project will not be beautiful, functional, and a benefit to the community it serves.”

Mastriano alleged that the library has been dishonest about the likely cost of the new branch.

“I analyzed their whole cost analysis to make sure what they were quoting to the public was accurate, and I averaged all the libraries that they had in their book and there was a lot of things that they didn’t include,” he said. “So I know that that building is going to be well over $9.5 million to build.”

Shaver said the library initially received a higher estimate during its study for a Facilities Master Plan. In that analysis, engineering firm Bialosky recommended the relocation and suggested that a new 15,000-square-foot building would cost $12 million.

“Bialosky used rough order of magnitude pricing. In an effort to reach a more accurate estimate, library staff sought an example property, engaged MS Consultants to ensure buildability, and received an estimate for site work specific to that property,” he said. “CBLH architects were also consulted due to their recent library builds in the state, for a more accurate square foot cost for the building and additional costs beyond sitework specific to the example property. Noted exceptions were made, and a non-escalated estimate range specific to the property resulted in $6.38 million to $9.59 million in total costs.”

Mastriano also told Verb he thinks repairs to the existing Poland branch could be made for between $5 million and $6 million.

While the library has received multiple estimates for the cost of repairs to the building – as high as $8.5 million — the library has settled on BSHM’s base estimate from its Jan. 23, 2024 assessment: $6,456,257.

Shaver said that does not include $1 million in “owner requested building modifications,” originally intended to account for contemporary, durable and proven materials as well as programmatic upgrades.

Whatever the renovations would have been for the building, Shaver notes that, aside from removing the open-hearth slag from the foundation, all costs for repairs and replacement would have to be incurred again in 20 to 30 years, when they will need to replace components and materials in kind, as quoted by BSHM.

The $6.4 million cost also does not include MS Consultants’ estimated 30-year maintenance cost for the branch, which — assuming a 4% annual escalation — would total about $8.4 million.

“By contrast, a newly constructed library is projected to incur approximately $3.6 million in maintenance costs over the same 30-year period, based on an initial annual maintenance cost of approximately $70,000 and a lower 3% annual escalation rate reflecting newer systems and reduced reactive maintenance,” Shaver said.

He also noted that the annual cost increase could be as low as 3% for the current building and that renovations to Poland would certainly have mitigated maintenance cost estimates, noting initial savings in the years immediately following such repairs.

At least three other trustees, who voted for the relocation and against renovating Poland, stated maintenance costs were a major consideration in their votes.

“Looking at the library move for me came down to square footage numbers and maintenance and operations on the facility,” said trustee Matt Marrone. “As a Poland resident, and taking hometown pride out of it, I needed to think about all of Mahoning County taxpayers’ dollars, and what makes the most sense for all of them. I really wish politicians would consider the rest of Mahoning County and not just the loud few to get their face on TV.”

Strollo and Jamie Viano echoed Marrone’s sentiments.

Kozberg and Shaver said PLYMC will continue to assess claims made on the local radio talk show, including allegations of illegitimately removing donated items from Poland, which Mastriano alleges PLYMC was contractually obligated to keep, but were gone after the interior refresh project.

For now, Shaver said that while some items were removed, many plaques, busts and artwork remain.

Kozberg said the library is committed to full transparency and is in the process of uploading all documents related to Poland to its website: libraryvisit.org/poland-project/.