Thursday, January 20, 2011
YOUNGSTOWN
City council put the brakes on a proposed improvement project to the public works department offices on the 5th floor of city hall after members expressed concern about the cost of the work.
The work was estimated at $250,000 with $35,000 more for project designs and oversight of the improvements.
“It seems like an exorbitant amount of money for one floor,” said Councilman Paul Drennen, D-5th. “I have concerns.”
Charles Shasho, the public works department’s deputy director, said the costs “could very well” be less, but that wouldn’t be known until an architect was hired to design the project.
Council agreed Wednesday to not permit the board of control to hire a company to do the improvement work, and refused to approve legislation allowing an architect to be hired to determine the cost of the proposal.
Instead, council agreed to have its buildings and grounds committee discuss the project further with Shasho and other interested parties before a decision on renovating the floor could be made.
Shasho said the project wasn’t going to begin until the summer.
The cost of the work was going to come from the city’s wastewater treatment plant fund and not the city’s ailing general fund.
Shasho said that’s permissible because about 90 percent of the work done by the department are projects that include a wastewater component.
About 40 percent of the project’s cost would be to replace the 5th floor’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system that has required thousands of dollars of repair work over the past decade, Shasho said.
Also, Shasho said the project includes improving the floor’s outdated electric system, and “basic cosmetic upgrades” such as new carpeting, ceiling tiles, light fixture improvements and new paint to the lobby, hallway, conference room and three offices, including his.
Councilman Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd, said there’s a lot of improvement work needed elsewhere in city hall, which has seven floors and a basement.
“I’d like to see a full-blown written plan” of all the improvements needed, he said.
In 2007, the city spent about $200,000 to renovate the first floor including the lobby area and the mayor’s office.
In 2002, $335,000 was spent to improve council chambers while the city was laying off about 60 employees because of financial problems.
Drennen pointed out previous city councils approved those projects.
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