Funding for lease terminated as landlord files suit against county

The educational center will save money by renting less space under a new lease.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County commissioners terminated funding for the county’s Educational Service Center lease, on the same morning the center’s landlord filed a breach-of-lease lawsuit.

On Thursday, the commissioners adopted without comment a resolution cutting off rent payments under that lease effective Oct. 15. Under that lease, which took effect in 2001, ESC pays $24,425 per month for 25,500 square feet on the first and second floors at 100 DeBartolo Place, which is in Southwoods Executive Center in Boardman.

To cut costs, however, ESC has signed a new 10-year lease, effective Sept. 1, under which it will pay $13,321 per month for only 16,000 square feet on the same building’s second floor, said Richard Denamen, the center’s superintendent.

The landlord, Cocca Development Ltd., sued the commissioners in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the commissioner’s action, saying it stands to lose some $1 million in rental income in the 3 1/2 years remaining in the 2001 lease. Judge John M. Durkin declined to issue the TRO.

Addressing the issue

A hearing will be at 1 p.m. Sept. 19 before Magistrate Dominic DeLaurentis on Cocca’s request for a preliminary injunction against the commissioners.

In a letter to Cocca dated Tuesday, Gina DeGenova Bricker, assistant county prosecutor, announced the commissioners’ intention to pass the termination resolution Thursday. The 2001 lease is void because it violated state competitive bidding laws by failing to note that the county can terminate the lease at will upon 60 days written notice, she explained.

ESC now pays its rent entirely out of its own budget. Previously, the commissioners paid it out of their budget. A state law passed in 2001 reduced county commissioners’ obligations to pay their ESC’s rents by 20 percent annually.

The center has about 250 employees, 110 of them based at Southwoods. Local school districts pay the center for the services of its psychologists, speech therapists and other consulting professionals. The center also offers pre-school programs at various sites around the county and provides continuing education for teachers and school administrators.

Other business

In other business, the county commissioners heard Judee Genetin, deputy director of child support enforcement in the county’s Department of Job and Family Services, report that 88 suspended driver’s licenses were reinstated and $22,189 in support was collected during the first 10 days of this month’s amnesty program for people who owe child support. The department averages 107 reinstatements a month, she said.

Now through Aug. 31, child support debtors can show up between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays at JFS’ new offices at 345 Oak Hill Ave. and have their driver’s licenses reinstated by paying one month’s support plus $1. Debtors must also pay a $25 state license reinstatement fee. Normally, debtors must pay three months’ support or have verified employment for wage withholding purposes to get their driver’s licenses back.