Wednesday, January 23, 2002
Warren councilto vote on cleanup
WARREN -- City council is expected to vote tonight on ordinances aimed at finishing cleanup at the former Mahoningside Power Plant site on Summit Street.
Remaining work at the site should cost $571,000 and includes filling the basement area with soil containing asbestos, encapsulating it in the basement, tearing down above-ground structures, and grading and seeding the property.
The project should be wrapped up by summer, barring any major problems, and future commercial development is expected, officials say.
The city has available about $862,000 to finish the cleanup.
Officials will ask council to consider legislation to pay about $64,000 to McCabe Engineering of Richfield for remediation work. The money comes from a $200,000 brownfields grant.
Council also is being asked to raise the cap on expenditures for the project, from $2.33 million to about $3 million.
Cortland votes againsthiring zoning inspector
CORTLAND -- Council does not think a part-time zoning inspector is needed.
Members voted 5-2 Tuesday night to defeat an ordinance establishing the part-time post.
Mayor Melissa Long had recommended the ordinance, saying there is no city employee who can concentrate just on zoning matters.
Long noted that service director Paul Makosky enforces zoning regulations.
Council members, however, think that, for now, Makosky can do both.
Makosky said he does not think it is necessary to hire a part-time zoning inspector.
Board OKs spendingfor Detroit press junket
VIENNA -- The Western Reserve Port Authority Board approved this morning spending up to $1,500 to sponsor a press junket to Detroit International Airport next week.
Local newspaper and TV reporters will take a three-hour tour of a new $1.2 billion Northwest Airlines passenger terminal. Northwest is the only commercial airline serving Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
The board also approved spending $60,000 to study the feasibility of building an indoor NASCAR racetrack in the area. Half the money will go to Public Financial Management to look at the project's potential; the other half will go to the law firm of Squires, Sanders and Dempsey to study the possibilities for funding it. Both firms are in Cleveland.
Mahoning and Trumbull County commissioners voted last week to split the cost of the studies.
Trustees' work session
MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Township trustees will conduct a work session with the zoning commission and the zoning board of appeals at 7 p.m. Thursday in the township administration building.
Warren cop is hurt
WARREN -- A two-car crash left a city police officer in stable condition this morning in St. Joseph Health Center.
Police reports indicate that Patrol Officer Emmanuel Nites was on his way to work around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when a car driven by Jody Hayes of Warren tried to pass him on East Market Street.
The cars collided, and both men were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
No charges have been filed.
Lordstown school auditfinds 12 fund deficits
LORDSTOWN -- State Auditor Jim Petro's office has released an audit of the school district covering July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2001.
The report found 12 accounts had deficits throughout the year. The funds include general, food services, bond retirement, district-managed student activities, career development, teacher development and miscellaneous state grant funds.
"This indicates money from other funds has been used to pay the obligations of these funds," the report said.
The district has been in fiscal emergency since December 2000, and a state oversight commission oversees district finances.