Oakhill to continue using steam heat

A system using natural gas would be more expensive.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Building Commission has fallen one vote short of going forward with plans for a new $2.9 million heating system in Oakhill Renaissance Place.

The motion to have the county’s architect, Raymond Jaminet, begin developing specifications for such a system was made by Joseph Sylvester and seconded by County Commissioner David N. Ludt.

Sylvester, Ludt, John Logue and County Commissioner Anthony T. Traficanti voted in favor, but Atty. David Comstock and County Commissioner John A. McNally IV voted against the motion. Robert Buchanan was absent from Monday’s commission meeting.

Despite getting majority approval, the motion failed because state law requires an affirmative vote of five of the seven building commission members to enter into a contract.

Comstock, who is commission chairman, said he calculated that the proposed new system, which would feature multiple small natural-gas-fired boilers throughout the building, would be more expensive than the steam heat Oak-hill gets from Youngstown Thermal for about $530,000 a year.

The six commission members present voted unanimously to form a three-member committee to try to negotiate lower rates from Youngstown Thermal. Comstock appointed McNally, Logue and Ludt to that committee.

Logue said he voted in favor of the natural-gas option because Oakhill’s heating system eventually needs to be modernized, and the installation would likely cost less now than in the future.

The current heating system was designed for a hospital, not for an office building, Logue observed. “I just thought there might be efficiencies in designing a system for an office building,” he explained.

The county commissioners bought Oakhill in 2006 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for use as a county office complex and moved the county’s Department of Job and Family Services there the following year.

Oakhill is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center. The former hospital was built in stages between 1910 and 1972.