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Hockey lawsuit appears to be settled
The city would pay $45,000 to the parent company of the former SteelHounds.
YOUNGSTOWN — The city has reached a tentative settlement on a lawsuit filed against it and the former manager of its Chevrolet Centre by the owner of the Youngstown SteelHounds hockey team.
City council will consider legislation Wednesday authorizing the board of control to pay $45,000 to Blue Line LLC, the parent company of the Youngstown SteelHounds minor league hockey team, which played its home games for three seasons, 2005-08, at the center.
The matter will be resolved before March 14 when the three sides were to appear in front of Richard Blair, a Youngstown-based attorney serving as the case’s mediator, said James G. Floyd, serving as the city’s attorney on this case.
This resolves all outstanding issues involving the three entities, Floyd said.
“I think it’s a phenomenal resolution for the amount of grief to go away once and for all,” Floyd, a Youngstown attorney, said of the settlement.
International Coliseums Co., a Phoenix company that managed the center for the city between October 2005 and October 2007, will also make a payment to Blue Line.
That amount isn’t known.
“The city is contributing $45,000 to a settlement pool,” Floyd said.
Floyd and city Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello declined to say how much money ICC was giving Blue Line.
Attempts Monday to reach Edwin Romero of Youngstown, Blue Line’s attorney, as well as Thomas M. Quigley, ICC’s attorney in Phoenix, and Daniel M. Connell, ICC’s attorney in Cleveland, were unsuccessful.
The city ended its management contract with ICC in October 2007 because it wasn’t pleased with how the company ran the center.
Blue Line filed a federal lawsuit in December 2007 against ICC. Blue Line contended ICC had failed to pay the hockey company at least $250,000 for certain fees, most notably about $170,000 for the sale of club seats to SteelHounds games.
ICC officials say the money was withheld from Blue Line because that company didn’t pay fees required to be a member of the Central Hockey League, a sister company to ICC.
ICC filed a motion in June 2008 adding the city to the lawsuit. The city then filed a claim against Blue Line asking a judge to void its contract giving Blue Line exclusivity over hockey at the arena. The city’s motion was filed a few days after the CHL kicked the SteelHounds out of the league.
In October 2008, Blue Line agreed to give up its exclusivity to hockey at the center.
The Mahoning Valley Phantoms, a North American Hockey League team, is playing most of its home games this season at the center under a one-year deal.
What will happen regarding hockey at the center next season remains unknown.
skolnick@vindy.com