Youngstown council to weigh extension of management contracts for Covelli, amphitheater

YOUNGSTOWN

Legislation to authorize the board of control to sign contract extensions with JAC Management LLC to manage the operations and food-and-beverage sales at the Covelli Centre and the proposed downtown amphitheater will face city council next week.

But it’s uncertain whether enough council members will approve the proposals at next Thursday’s meeting after a 90-minute finance committee meeting Wednesday to discuss the issues.

Council members Nate Pinkard, D-3rd, and Anita Davis, D-6th, said they wouldn’t approve the legislation until they saw existing and proposed final contracts – along with the differences – with JAC, and questioned the urgency to approve the deals now.

That’s because the existing management contract at the city-owned Covelli Centre doesn’t expire until Dec. 31, 2018, and city Finance Director David Bozanich said Wednesday that the amphitheater wouldn’t be finished until the latter half of next year. Bozanich said earlier this year the amphitheater would be done by May.

Read more about the matter in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.