43
Site bought for new water tower
By peter H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County commissioners approved the $105,000 purchase of the Canfield Township site for installation of a new 500,000-gallon elevated water-storage tank.
The 0.9-acre site, purchased from Florence V. Libb, is on Raccoon Road just south of U.S. Route 224 near the exit ramp from northbound state Route 11.
The installation, designed to improve water supply and pressure for residents, businesses and firefighters in the Canfield area, is expected to cost $2.5 million to $3 million.
Bill Coleman, sanitary-engineering office manager, said the county hopes construction will start in mid-to-late fall for the structure, which likely will be 115 to 120 feet high and will be topped by a red flashing aircraft-warning light.
The project will be funded by a $750,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant, with the remainder of the money coming from Aqua Ohio, which provides water to that area.
The commissioners also approved Thursday a $7,500 sponsorship grant from the county’s hotel bed-tax revenues to Eric Ryan Productions for the Downtown Jazz Fest at 6 p.m. July 11 in Central Square.
The event will feature a major artist, who has released 10 albums and whose name will be announced Monday, said Linda Macala, county convention and visitors’ bureau director.
The commissioners also approved payment of $9,743 to Murphy Contracting Co. of Youngstown for its emergency work to remove loose terra cotta on the west side of the 104-year-old county courthouse after a chunk of terra cotta weighing more than 50 pounds fell from the building’s roof to the ground this past winter.
Nobody was injured when the chunk fell early this year into the ally behind the courthouse, said James Fortunato, county purchasing director.
Murphy checked the entire courthouse perimeter for loose terra cotta, he said.
Terra cotta is molded clay brick or block.
Murphy is the general contractor for the courthouse restoration project, which began April 29.
The first phase of the project is to remove broken or damaged terra cotta from the courthouse and send it to Boston Valley Terra Cotta of Orchard Park, N.Y., near Buffalo, so the company can accurately make replacement pieces of terra cotta.
The $4.6 million yearlong restoration project includes repair or replacement of about 1,500 pieces of terra cotta.
Boston Valley is one of only two terra cotta makers in the nation, the other being in California.
“Different doors may close at different times, but we’ll never close the courthouse” during the project, Fortunato said.
Scaffolding eventually will encircle the building, Fortunato said.
Some restoration work may have to be done at night and on the weekends, he added.
The commissioners’ next meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Ellsworth Township Hall, 11125 Akron-Canfield Road.