State Controlling Board OKs property purchases for YSU

COLUMBUS — The state Controlling Board signed off Monday on several property purchases for Youngstown State University.

The board approved YSU’s purchase of five parcels, totaling about a half-acre, from Fireline Inc. at a cost of $12,654. Four of the lots are located on North Watts Street, and the fifth is on Meadow Street.

Members also approved the university’s purchase of 0.757 of an acre, located at 322 Wick Ave., from Faith Community Church (United Church of Christ) at a cost of $315,000. The property includes the church building, according to documents. Additionally, the board OK’d the university’s purchase of 0.088 of an acre at 224 N. Phelps St. from the city of Youngstown at a cost of $200,000. The property had an appraised value of $190,000-$200,000 and includes a three-story brick apartment building that was built in 1920, according to documents.

The properties will be used for future campus development. The North Phelps Street parcel is slated to become the new Williamson College of Business, scheduled to be completed in 2010.

The controlling board also finalized $400,000 for a Sebring company developing fuel cells.

Refractory Specialties Inc. will use the funding in its work to reduce the cost of manufacturing solid oxide fuel cells, which use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and serve as a cleaner, less-expensive and more reliable energy source for everything from automobiles to factories, according to the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition

The state released $7,000 for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to pay for dump station and wastewater improvements at Mosquito Lake State Park, according to documents.

The controlling board also released $12,000 to pay for a drainage study at the grounds of the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. CIW Engineering of Wood County will conduct the study, which will include an assessment of drainage around perimeter roads, fences and parking lots. The penitentiary opened in 1998 on the city’s East Side and houses 533 male inmates.