YOUNGSTOWN Hours set for trick or treat

Council approved a lease-purchase deal for the B & amp;O Station.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Approving a new tenant for the B & amp;O Station? Not a word from council members.
A privately financed downtown arena? Not a peep.
Trick or treat hours? Now, there's a debate.
After setting the city's observance of Halloween for 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 31 after a 15-minute debate Wednesday, even council members acknowledged the silliness, giggling their way to adjournment. Police Chief Richard Lewis was reduced to covering his face with a paper, his face red from trying to conceal his laughing.
Every year it's the same. Everybody has a better idea for trick or treat.
Lewis recommended 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for safety. He reminded council that clocks will be moved back an hour days before Halloween and it will get darker earlier.
One council member suggested 6 to 8 p.m. so parents have more time to get home and take their kids out. Another suggested 5 to 7 p.m. A third went into a soliloquy about safety. On they went about the merits of one time or another.
Finally, Council President Charles P. Sammarone had enough. He told members they'll never satisfy everybody and to pick a time, so they did.
B & amp;O Station: Council approved a lease-purchase deal for the B & amp;O Station with local businessman William Marsteller. He will rent space to a microbrewery, the Ohio Brewing Co., and a restaurant.
The vote was 4-2. Ron Sefcik, D-4th, abstained because he couldn't make up his mind. He wants the city to keep ownership of the building. He was afraid, however, that the old rail station would remain empty if his insistence scuttled the deal.
Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, and John R. Swierz, D-7th, voted against. Both want the city to sell the building outright and get rid of it.
Other actions:
UTalked with Charlie Miner, Mahoning County manager for the Ohio Department of Transportation. Council complained about trash, bad fencing and construction debris dumped along I-680. Miner said the agency is doing its best to clean up trash but needs litter laws enforced. ODOT will fix fencing and will pick up the debris, he said.
UTalked with Calvin Jones, street superintendent, about snow removal plans for this winter. Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, asked for a better policy than always making main streets the top priority while residential side streets sometimes wait three or four days for services after a snowstorm. Jones said he can't change the policy without at least a dozen more trucks and drivers. Carmen Conglose Jr., deputy director of public works, said a city of Youngstown's size needs twice the number of trucks and drivers -- or more -- to constantly service side streets.
UTalked about funding for new municipal court space. Hudson said the issue needs a resolution soon, but he is frustrated that council hasn't yet received financial information from the city administration about borrowing money. Hudson said he fears the judges will issue a journal entry forcing the city to do a project. Judge Robert Douglas said he is waiting along with council for the next step.
rgsmith@vindy.com