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Youngstown council discussed inexpensive ways to improve the city
YOUNGSTOWN
City council members plan to work on a streetlighting program and put together a directory of city businesses as part of a plan to improve Youngstown.
Council met Tuesday to discuss improvement projects that can be done for a reasonable cost.
There are too many streetlights in the city that don’t work, council members said.
“A lighting program would be citywide,” said Councilwoman Lauren McNally, D-5th. “It would be in the neighborhoods, the corridors and city parks. We have plenty of poles, and we need to make sure the lights are working. If the city is brighter, it’s safer and it makes Youngstown more attractive.”
Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st, suggested someone in the street department or public works be assigned to drive around the city to see what streetlights are out.
Councilman Nate Pinkard, D-3rd, added that police officers on routine patrol can report broken streetlights.
Council will meet with the administration and Ohio Edison to discuss a campaign to identify what streetlights are out and replace them, Mayor John A. McNally said.
The other suggestion by council was the creation of a business directory with a focus on the city’s main corridors.
“We want to put it together in a couple of different forms – a website and for our older residents, we should do printed copies,” McNally said. “There are a lot of businesses in the city that people don’t know about where they can get what they need.”
“We need to do a better job of promoting our local businesses,” added Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th. “A Buy Youngstown program in which we can list businesses and promote them would really help.”
There already are some parts of the city with business directories, so putting together a complete listing shouldn’t take that long, council members added.