Contractor challenges yearly fee in Boardman

LISBON -- A Boardman company is asking that Salem's $50 annual contractor's registration fee be declared unconstitutional.
John Fithian Contracting Co. of 8010 Southern Blvd. filed the lawsuit this week in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
The company was hired to bore a hole under East State Street for a sewer hookup for the McDonald's Restaurant. McDonald's is tearing down the old restaurant and building a new one at the same location.
The lawsuit says the company couldn't proceed May 19 because the fee hadn't been paid, and the work had to be rescheduled. John A. Fithian, the company's vice president, paid the fee May 24 to get the work done.
The lawsuit contends the fee is unconstitutional because the city collects it and the fee doesn't have a legitimate impact on the community's welfare.