Interim order allows loan to keep Oakhill center open

The county has made an undisclosed offer to buy the center.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kay Woods will allow an interim trustee to borrow up to $100,000 to keep Oakhill Renaissance Place doors open while seeking buyers for the property.
Judge Woods signed interim orders Thursday allowing Trustee Andrew Suhar to keep the building open for current tenants and to borrow money from JP Morgan Chase Bank to do it.
A hearing for a final ruling on the issue is set for 9:30 a.m. June 21 before Judge Woods.
Atty. Melissa Macejko, representing Suhar, said $100,000 should be sufficient to keep the center open for 90 days. If it can't be sold by then, the trustee will seek to abandon it, she said.
JP Chase Morgan will gain a first lien position on the $3.7 million property as well as "super priority" for administrative expenses from the estate.
Macejko said the trustee decided to seek court approval to keep the building open after learning that the structure's insurance would lapse Sunday and utility companies were likely to shut off service soon as a result of unpaid bills.
She said the trustee has had expressions of interest in acquiring Oakhill from three parties, one of them Mahoning County, which made a formal offer on the property Thursday. She didn't identify the other two parties.
Commissioners' debate
The commissioners voted 2-1 earlier in the day to make the offer on Oakhill, but not before Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, president of the board, blasted Commissioner John McNally IV for "putting up roadblocks" to the proposal.
Traficanti and Commissioner David Ludt voted to make the offer, but refused to discuss details as the effort to buy the center could wind up in open bidding in bankruptcy court. McNally opposed the motion.
Traficanti challenged what he said was McNally's "hasty vote" characterization of an earlier vote, related to the county's interest in taking over Oakhill and making it a county government center.
McNally has had ample time to look at the consolidation of county offices but has offered nothing, Traficanti said. "It's time to get off the pot and start leading," he said.
Ludt said he's been working on the project for two years.
McNally said later that he didn't appreciate the personal attack by Traficanti, calling it "shameful." He said he was elected by the county voters to represent them and will continue to vote as he deems appropriate.
Wants financial data
McNally's reluctance to endorse the project stems from a lack of financial information, he said, explaining that no one has yet answered his questions about what it will cost the county -- or what it might save the county -- to consolidate its offices at Oakhill. That's information the county needs before it moves forward with the project, he said.
Traficanti asked county Auditor Michael V. Sciortino to prepare a list showing what the county has paid on its various leases as well as utilities and maintenance on rental space for the last five years. The leases are what will drive this project forward, he said, estimating they total in the millions of dollars over five years.
Atty. John W. Powers, former chairman of the nonprofit Southside Community Development Corp., which owns Oakhill, addressed the commissioners before their vote Thursday, telling them that the structure is in good condition and is "an ideal government center for the county."
Cafaro objects
Powers said there is one major objector to the project, Anthony Cafaro Sr. of The Cafaro Co. The Cafaro Co. owns McGuffey Plaza where the county Jobs and Family Service office is renting space for its 300 employees.
Powers predicted that Cafaro will try to stop the move of that facility to Oakhill. The community should try to persuade Cafaro otherwise, Powers said, stopping short of explaining how that might be done.
Traficanti said the county is paying $40,000 a month rent (actually state funds channeled through the county) at McGuffey and must also pick up the tab for roof and other repairs. That's money the county could be paying itself, he said.
Cafaro, contacted after the meeting, declined to comment on Oakhill, pointing out that the matter is now in the hands of the bankruptcy court.
Now that the court has agreed to allow the trustee to keep Oakhill open, Cafaro said he plans to make a statement about the Jobs and Family Service matter next week.