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Youngstown council OKs plan to manage, fix water tanks
YOUNGSTOWN
A month after the water commissioner urged council to act quickly to let the board of control hire a company to manage and repair the city’s water tanks, council members authorized the legislation.
“The last time I spoke before council, you beat me up pretty bad,” Water Commissioner Harry L. Johnson III said Wednesday during a council finance committee had before the full council meeting.
The statement drew laughs.
Johnson said the work is “necessary to maintain the towers and the integrity of our water.”
The board of control – the mayor, law director and finance director – is expected to hire Utility Service Group, an Atlanta-based company with a local office, at a meeting later this month, Johnson said.
The ordinance allows the board to hire a company at an annual cost between $450,000 and $750,000 to manage, maintain, repair, clean the interiors and paint the exteriors of the seven water tanks owed by the city.
It likely would cost $750,000 for the first year because two city-owned tanks – one in Liberty on the city’s North Side border and the other on the West Side – need work done, Johnson said.
The Liberty tank has loose or missing bolts and sealant loss, he said.
Also, council voted to have the board of control enter into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding a May 4, 2015, leak of about 500 gallons of liquid chlorine at its wastewater treatment facility on Poland Avenue.
The EPA originally wanted the city to pay a $288,000 fine, said Law Director Martin Hume.
During negotiations, the city was able to reduce the fine to $20,415, and will spend up to $120,000 to expand the plant’s chlorine and sulfur-dioxide detection system and install fiber-optic cables for an alarm system to alert those inside the plant when emergencies happen, Hume said.
“The net result is we’ll have a safer plant and not pay a larger fine,” he said.
It’s the second time in recent months the city faced a fine for problems at its wastewater treatment plant on Poland Avenue.
The Ohio EPA fined the city $88,000 in November 2015 for emissions violations.
The EPA agreed to allow the city to not pay a fine and instead spend up to $500,000 in wastewater funds to remove asbestos and demolish what’s left of the former Wick Avenue car-dealership properties.
Council voted to have the board of control spend up to $100,000 to purchase two cruisers to be customized for police dogs. The money for the cars, which will likely cost between $86,000 and $90,000, is coming from the city’s speed-camera-enforcement program, said Police Chief Robin Lees.
Council also voted 5-1 on eight ordinances to make changes to staffing at the city’s finance department.
Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th, voted no on all eight, while Councilwoman Lauren McNally, D-5th, was absent.
Davis said she voted against the legislation because “I didn’t feel comfortable with the way it was restructured. I have some issues that weren’t resolved to my satisfaction.” She declined to discuss her concerns.
Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, said the restructuring was a “great collaboration between union and management. Both sides are happy with it. We run the finance department lean as it is.”