Mahoning building commission OKs steam-heat contract for Oakhill

By Peter H. Milliken

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Building Commission has approved a two-year contract to continue to receive steam heat from Youngstown Thermal for Oakhill Renaissance Place but at significantly reduced rates.

The contract, approved Thursday, is retroactive to March 1, 2009, and it will expire Feb. 28, 2011.

The rate will be $17.50 per thousand pounds of steam for the first year and $18.25 in the second year.

As a county-owned office building, Oakhill uses about 28 million pounds of steam annually. Oakhill is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.

Under the previous contract, the county paid between $19.20 and $21 per thousand pounds of steam, depending on usage, and spent about $530,000 a year for steam to heat Oakhill.

With its lower rates, the new contract will save the county about $50,000 in the first year and about $21,000 in the second year, said Atty. David Comstock, building commission chairman.

The commission approved the contract over the objection of county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, who said the agreement contained ambiguities, including those concerning the terms of its renewal and what the steam rates would be after renewal.

Gains also noted that, if the contract is renewed, the steam price is subject to adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, which could mean significantly higher rates if substantial economic inflation occurs.

The only dissenting building commission member was county Commissioner David N. Ludt, who said the matter needed to be discussed further by lawyers for both sides involved in negotiating the contract.

Comstock said the new Youngstown Thermal pact is a temporary measure to continue steam service while J.M. Verostko Inc., a Youngstown mechanical engineering consultant, studies long-term improvements to the heating system of the former hospital.

The building commission unanimously authorized Verostko to proceed with detailed specifications and drawings for $750,000 to $850,000 worth of upgrades to Oakhill’s ventilation system and $1.6 million to $2 million worth of air-conditioning chiller upgrades.

Comstock said he hopes the ventilation and air-conditioning improvements can be made before summer.

milliken@vindy.com