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County to seek $3M grant
By SEAN BARRON
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning County commissioners have approved a resolution for a local lead-control program to apply to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a three-year, $3 million grant.
Most of the money will go toward removing lead hazards from 201 housing units in Mahoning County, the majority of which are in Youngstown, Phil Puryear said after Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting.
Puryear, director of the Mahoning County Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control program, noted that nearly all the units are for low-income families with children under age 6.
The goal is to extract lead hazards such as chipping and peeling paint as well as older windows that may contain the element, he explained.
A risk assessment will be conducted first, Puryear said.
The deadline to submit the application is Oct. 15, and it’s hoped the funds will be in place by late December, he continued, adding that some of the money also will be used for staff salaries and outreach efforts.
Also during the session, officials awarded three contracts to two companies for the Mahoning County Courthouse Emergency Stabilization of the Statue Support Structure project.
Ameriseal Restoration of Akron was awarded contracts of $80,500 and $46,020, respectively, as general and statue contractor. A $15,523 pact was given to Austintown-based Roth Brothers Inc. as roof contractor.
The project’s main goal is to stabilize the rooftop statue’s base on the roof of the 102-year-old courthouse on Market Street, explained James Yoder, project architect with the 4M Co. of Boardman.
In March, county officials cordoned off both sides of the courthouse colonnade at the main entrance as a precaution in case of falling stone.
4M is handling restoration to the courthouse.
It was discovered about a year ago that the structure had shifted because of decades of gradual natural deterioration, caused largely by water, to its base and nearby steel, Yoder noted.
Several months after initial measurements were taken, laser targets on the statue revealed that the structure had moved a bit more, Yoder explained. In addition, he said, several large cracks were found in the masonry.
In other business, commissioners appointed J. Robert Lyden as county sanitary engineer, effective immediately.
Lyden, who had been acting sanitary engineer and whose annual salary will be about $85,000, replaces Joseph Warino, who accepted a position as city manager of Canfield.