43
Coordinator will enforce housing code in Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN
City council voted to hire a coordinator for its housing code enforcement even though it chose to postpone a vacant-structure registration program — a key component of its enforcement efforts.
Council members said they wanted to review the vacant-structure program, and could approve it as early as its next meeting, Oct. 19.
Council voted Wednesday to authorize the board of control to sign a one-year professional services contract with Maureen O’Neil, the city’s rental-property registration administrator, to run its code-enforcement program.
That not only includes her current responsibilities and the eventual vacant-structure registration, but also all other housing-code programs.
O’Neil’s new position pays her $44,004 annually. She was receiving $26,700 a year to run the rental-property program, also as an independent contractor.
“That’s cheap for her responsibilities,” said Mayor Charles Sammarone, a major proponent of enforcing the city’s housing code.
Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, supports increasing code enforcement and the hiring of O’Neil. But he wanted to wait until council’s next meeting to approve the new contract to give members more time to review it.
Ray said Wednesday that council members first heard details of the program Monday and received proposed legislation to hire O’Neil about 24 hours before the vote.
That didn’t sit well with Sammarone, who wanted it passed Wednesday.
The mayor said if council members postponed the vote, even for two weeks, their constituents, who’ve been calling for better code enforcement for a long time, would complain.
Ray joined the six other council members — including some who said they weren’t familiar with the details of O’Neil’s new responsibilities — in voting in favor of the contract.
Also Wednesday, council approved:
A contract with its 140-member firefighters’ union that freezes annual base-pay salaries, except for those hired at lower salaries the past couple of years and new hires, until Aug. 31, 2014.
An early-retirement incentive for about 65 workers eligible to take the offer. Police officers and firefighters aren’t eligible. Those with at least 28 years of service with the city are eligible for the incentive that would have the city buy two years of state Public Employment Retirement System time. The buyout would be good for a year, starting Dec. 1. The goal is to either not replace retirees or consolidate jobs.
A 10-year, 75-percent real-property tax abatement for Bottom Dollar Food, building a grocery store at 3377 Mahoning Ave. in the Mahoning Plaza on the West Side. The board of control needs to give final approval. Under the proposal, Bottom Dollar would save $604,172 and pay $201,391 in property taxes over a 10-year period.
The company received similar tax abatements a few months ago for stores it’s building at 621 W. Princeton Ave. on the South Side, and 890 Midlothian Blvd. on the South Side at a former Big Lots.