GIRARD City to fight delays in lawsuit

Ohio Leather Works' new legal counsel says he'll pursue a settlement.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Mayor James Melfi says the city will fight a new attempt to delay the court battle in the city's effort to gain control of the Ohio Leather Works property.
"There have been enough delays for a lifetime," Melfi said Tuesday.
The city has been attempting in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to foreclose on the 27 acres along U.S. Route 422 since 1999.
The city thought it had a mediated settlement with the property owner, Leatherworks Partnership, in January, but it fell through.
The case is scheduled for an April 30 trial before Anthony Cornicelli, a court magistrate, who would recommend a verdict to Judge John M. Stuard.
Atty. Richard G. Zellers of Canfield, who has been representing the city in the property dispute, has been informed by Atty. Thomas Letson that the Warren law firm of Letson, Griffith, Woodall, Lavelle and Rosenberg now represents the owner, along with the Washington, D.C., law firm of McDonald and Karl. They are replacing Attys. Don Hanni and Scott Essad of Youngstown.
Extension: "We feel it is necessary to ask for a minimum extension of the trial date of April 30 to prepare the case, conduct discovery and pursue good faith settlement negotiations with the city," Letson wrote Zellers in an April 11 letter.
"I understand how much resistance there will be to this because the city of Girard has been kept waiting for such a long time," Letson added.
Letson said in the letter that his firm has been authorized to pursue a settlement and limit any extension to 45 days.
Melfi said Zellers will notify the court of the city's objections.
The city decided to foreclose on the property because of more than $200,000 in fines Leatherworks Partnership accumulated after the city declared it a general safety hazard.
A tannery business operated on the land for about 80 years until it closed some 30 years ago.