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Petitioners seek county land bank
YOUNGSTOWN
Numerous community leaders are petitioning the Mahoning County commissioners to create a countywide land bank.
Such a land bank “will lead to safer and more secure neighborhoods,” said Christopher Travers of Sheridan Road, president of the 7th Ward Citizens’ Coalition and spokesman for the petition signers.
Vacant and abandoned buildings present a danger to the community, he said, adding that increased demolition hasn’t kept pace with abandonment and vacancy in Youngstown.
Although more than 650 demolitions occurred between 2008 and 2010, a recent survey by the Mahoning Valley Organizing Committee identified more than 1,000 newly vacant structures in the city alone, Travers said.
Flanked by the Revs. Edward Noga and Gregory Maturi, pastors of St. Patrick’s and St. Dominic churches, respectively, Travers presented the commissioners with the petition Thursday.
In a letter to the commissioners, county Treasurer Lisa A. Antonini wrote that a countywide land bank would enable acquisition of vacant, tax-delinquent land much faster than previous tax foreclosures.
John A. McNally IV, chairman of the county commissioners, said he hopes the commissioners will establish a land bank by the end of this month.
Travers was followed to the lectern by Paul Cubellis of Austintown, who was critical of recent pay increases awarded to engineers at the county engineer’s office and lawyers at the county prosecutor’s office. The raises were awarded by the elected county engineer and prosecutor.
Cubellis also complained about the long-term deteriorated condition of county roads, notably Norquest Boulevard in Austintown.
“If we can give these big raises, why can’t we put some money aside to take care of these situations?” he asked.
The commissioners rejected all bids received a year ago for leased space for Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman, including a proposal to keep occupying the current Boardman Plaza location and a proposal to occupy space on South Avenue.
McNally explained a majority of the commissioners couldn’t agree on a location and said the commissioners expect to discuss the issue soon with the county court judges.
The court continues at Boardman Plaza under a month-to-month lease.
The commissioners awarded a $416,124 contract for the Wickliffe Area sanitary sewer rehabilitation to United Survey Inc. of Cleveland.
Over four to six months, the company will seal about 8,100 feet of aging sewers and about 350 manholes in Austintown and Boardman to reduce leakage of rainwater into the sanitary sewer.
“This should help to reduce operating costs,” at the Boardman and Youngstown sewage treatment plants by limiting the amount of rainwater that unnecessarily goes to them, said Bill Coleman, office manager at the sanitary engineer’s office.