YOUNGSTOWN Leader says city can't afford Idora cleanup

The church is taking steps to raise the money for the cleanup, its lawyer said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city is in no mood to pay the Idora Park ballroom's cleanup costs if the owner doesn't.
Clearing the asbestos-laden remains left by last week's fire could challenge the city demolition department's entire $400,000 to $500,000 annual budget, director Mike Damiano said.
"It might get into the $300,000 mark," he said. "That could eat it up pretty good."
Councilman Ron Sefcik, D-4th, a finance committee member, doesn't see his colleagues spending that much from the city's general fund or using federal money. The city has too many other needs, he said.
The city should fine the property owner daily and pursue the issue in court if the owner doesn't comply, he said.
Letter to church: Damiano has sent the owner, Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church on Oak Hill Avenue, a letter saying it must put up a fence, hire an asbestos contractor and start work by April 1.
Damiano said he will issue misdemeanor tickets April 2 if work doesn't start. Each ticket comes with a $500 fine and six months in jail.
"I hope they'd have the good sense to do it [clean up]," he said.
Should the steel, wood and asbestos mess go untouched, the U.S. or Ohio environmental protection agencies are more likely to step in than the city, he said.
The state or federal governments would put liens on the land if that happened, Damiano said.
The city would seize the land if forced to do the cleanup, he said. The land also comes with the dilapidated Wildcat and Jack Rabbit roller coasters, and that is something the city does not want, however, Damiano said.
Church's response: Despite years of inaction and citations, Mount Calvary is planning to do the work, said Matthew Blair, the church's attorney.
The church is taking steps to raise the money needed to do the cleanup, he said. It remains unclear if insurance will cover any of the costs, he said.
The city's 2001 budget isn't final, and Finance Director Barbara Burtner said it's not clear how the city would handle a possible $300,000 hit.
Cash would be available, but at the expense of items such as buying new equipment as planned or hiring police officers, she said.
"It's a matter of priority," Burtner said.
Mayor George M. McKelvey said he is letting Law Director Robert Bush Jr. handle the issue of the church's paying for the cleanup.
Bush said he's waiting on the church's response and the city's letter outlining its responsibilities and time frame.
The expansive ballroom, built in 1910, burned to the ground March 5.