Court of jurisdiction seeks pertinent info from MVSD

Members of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District’s board of directors must be wondering why their seemingly good deed has suddenly become a point of contention.

Last month, the MVSD board voted to rebate $5 million to the cities of Youngstown and Niles and the village of McDonald because of an operating surplus.

Youngstown and Niles, the member cities, and McDonald pay for bulk drinking water based on rates set by the statutory court of jurisdiction upon the request of the MVSD.

The court is made up of two judges, one each from the Mahoning and Trumbull county common pleas courts.

Judges Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County and Ronald Rice of Trumbull County weren’t about to rubber stamp the decision to send $3.7 million to Youngstown, $1.2 million to Niles and $100,000 to McDonald.

Given that the MVSD has been embroiled in controversies involving some employees, D’Apolito and Rice are right in putting the brakes on the rebate request.

Indeed, a letter they sent to the board’s lawyer, Tom Wilson, made it clear that the judges have legitimate concerns about the decision.

They are unwilling to schedule a hearing on the matter until the district secures written opinions from the state attorney general and/or the state auditor, or the Mahoning and Trumbull prosecutors that the transfer of funds is permissible.

If such opinions aren’t forthcoming, D’Apolito and Rice have told the district that a special master would have to be appointed to deal with the issue. MVSD would pay the legal costs.

But that’s just the beginning. The court of jurisdiction intends to cross-examine MVSD Director Matt Blair and others in a way that hasn’t been done in the recent past.

The last time the supplier of drinking water for 200,000 or so users was under the microscope was in the late 1990s when a criminal investigation into the activities of then-board members Edward Flask and Frank DeJute was launched by a special prosecutor, the FBI, a special assistant prosecutor, investigative counsel for the Ohio Ethics Commission and investigators from the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Guilty plea

Flask was indicted by a grand jury, pleaded guilty to several criminal charges and spent time in Trumbull County jail.

Judges on the court of jurisdiction at the time and then-state Rep. June Lucas of Mineral Ridge triggered the investigation.

Today, Judges D’Apolito and Rice are taking their responsibilities just as seriously, as evidenced by the issues they raised in their letter to Atty. Wilson.

One of the key questions that Blair and his colleagues on the board will have to answer is this:

“Other than for political reasons, why does it make financial sense to the MVSD to return the funds rather than be prepared for future MVSD needs, like dam repairs, etc.?”

Given that the city of Niles is in state-mandated fiscal emergency and is required to develop a balanced budget for each of the next five years, the money from the MVSD would be a godsend.

In Youngstown, the Ohio Auditor’s Office is investigating the city’s use of water and wastewater money for downtown development projects. A prominent developer, Dominic Marchionda, city Finance Director David Bozanich and Atty. Stephen Garea have had documents, computers and other material confiscated as part of the investigation.

The situations in Niles and Youngs-town have prompted this question from Judges D’Apolito and Rice:

“Are there any conflicts of interest of any board members in voting for this transfer of funds?”

The issues the court of jurisdiction intends to pursue with the MVSD board could give water customers an up-close look at the operation of the water purification plant in Mineral Ridge.

While the judges explore the advisability of granting rebates at a time of economic uncertainty, there is one aspect of the sanitary district that we have focused on in the past, namely, the shrinking of the customer base.

Youngstown, Niles and McDonald supply water to their residents and businesses, while the two cities also have customers outside their boundaries. The total number of users has declined.

D’Apolito and Rice have a question that may address the shrinking of the customer base:

“Do the current board members have fiduciary obligations to the MVSD to preserve its financial well-being?”

The simple answer is yes, they do.