Mahoning County and Cafaro Co. settle lawsuits

YOUNGSTOWN — The legal battle between the Ohio Valley Mall Co. and the Mahoning County Commissioners officially ended this morning as the commissioners approved a settlement agreement.

The commissioners agreed to pay OVM, a division of the Cafaro Co., $225,000 now and $229,530 in each of the next three years to settle the lawsuit in which OVM said the county failed to fulfill its maintenance obligations at OVM’s Garland Plaza (also known as the McGuffey Plaza). The county had leased offices for its Department of Job and Family Services there for 19 years, ending in July.

In exchange for that payment, OVM agreed to forgo an appeal of the lawsuit the company had filed in an unsuccessful attempt to rescind the county’s purchase of Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center. JFS offices moved from Garland Plaza to Oakhill in July.