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Youngstown ponders lawsuit over repairs to roof of Covelli
YOUNGSTOWN
City council postponed a vote to pay $21,483 for roof improvements at the Covelli Centre.
Council members said Wednesday they want to first consider taking legal action against the ex-manager of the city-owned facility to recover the cost before paying it.
The warranty on the roof was invalidated because International Coliseums Co., which managed the facility from 2005 to 2007, made repairs when it ran the center without notifying the arena’s insurance company, city officials say.
Boak & Sons Inc. of Austintown recently finished $21,483 worth of repairs to the roof above the arena’s luxury suites.
Melted snow on the center’s main roof was flowing onto the roofs above the suites, causing water to leak and damage the suites.
Councilman Paul Drennen, D-5th, wants the city to sue ICC for the roof-repair expense.
“We shouldn’t be on the hook for this,” he said during a finance committee meeting Wednesday before the council meeting.
Some city administrators said it wasn’t fair to Boak & Sons to not be paid for work that was done.
Drennen asked if the company could wait until the next council meeting, Nov. 16, to be paid while city officials decided if legal action should be taken against ICC.
City Finance Director David Bozanich said the company could wait two weeks while “we determine if we can sue.”
The improvement work done by Boak restores the 30-year warranty on the roof, said Mayor Charles Sammarone.