YOUNGSTOWN — The 7th District Court of Appeals dismissed a breach of contract case filed by the idled Chill-Can project’s owners for missing another filing deadline.

M.J. Joseph Development Corp., which owns the Chill-Can property on Youngstown’s East Side, appealed a March 20 ruling from Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that the company owes $322,908 to MS Consultants Inc. for failure to pay that amount in architectural fees related to the stalled project.

In a Dec. 22 judgment entry, the appeals court agreed to allow Justin Markota and Brian Kopp to withdraw as M.J. Joseph’s legal counsel and gave the company until Jan. 26 to find new attorneys and file an overdue court brief.

Failure to file the brief by that deadline “may result in dismissal of the appeal for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with the appellate rules,” the judgment entry states.

Luther L. Liggett Jr., an attorney representing MS, filed a request Jan. 27 to dismiss the case when M.J. Joseph didn’t hire new lawyers or file the court brief.

The appeals court Tuesday granted MS’s request to dismiss the case because the “appellant’s brief remains delinquent.”

Liggett on Wednesday said, “The court has a strict briefing schedule, and Joseph failed to file a response.”

Liggett said M.J. Joseph hasn’t built the Chill-Can plant so “why would they proceed? What’s the point of fighting in court?”

Before withdrawing as M.J. Joseph’s legal counsel, Markota and Kopp not only filed the appeal but asked Sweeney to reconsider her decision in favor of MS by default when they missed a filing deadline.

Liggett said Sweeney has to rule on that motion.

Also, MS filed a foreclosure lawsuit against M.J. Joseph to force the sale of the 21 acres to pay the $322,908 default which also includes 18% interest. The city, which sued M.J. Joseph in a separate case, is a party in the foreclosure.

That foreclosure case is still pending in common pleas court.

Attempts to reach Mitchell Joseph, owner of the Chill-Can property and companies, have been unsuccessful. The companies seem to exist only on paper except for the property it owns in Youngstown.

The property was to be the location of a proposed $18.8 million project that broke ground in November 2016 and was supposed to be in full operation by 2018, producing the world’s only self-chilling beverage can.

M.J. Joseph was required to construct four buildings and create 237 jobs by Aug. 31, 2021, according to its agreement with the city when it received $1.5 million in grants.

There are three unfinished buildings at the location and one employee at last count.

The city of Youngstown filed a $2.8 million breach of contract lawsuit June 17, 2021, contending the company failed to live up to its promises to develop the site.

Sweeney decided in the city’s case that M.J. Joseph had to return the $1.5 million in water and wastewater grants it received from Youngstown for the stalled project.

Dennis J. Sarisky, Sweeney’s magistrate, ruled July 20 that M.J. should be sanctioned $733,480 — $414,948 the city spent on acquiring 15 properties bought for the project, which also included relocation expenses and $318,532 in demolition and abatement costs.

Markota and Kopp appealed that decision to Sweeney and asked that Sarisky be removed from the case. Sweeney hasn’t ruled on either as of Wednesday.

Sarisky scheduled an in-person status hearing March 14.

In addition to the grant and the property and demolition / abatement costs, the city’s lawsuit contended it had lost at least $575,000 in income tax revenue from the project’s failure at the time of the court filing. That lawsuit said the “full amount of lost income tax revenue will be proven at trial,” but the city was losing about $18,333 a month. At that rate, the city would have lost more than $600,000 in additional income tax revenue.

Knowing the city’s lawsuit was coming, M.J. Joseph and Joseph Manufacturing Co. Inc. filed a May 24, 2021, lawsuit against the city to stop it from reclaiming the $1.5 million in grants. That suit also contends the city doesn’t have any legal rights to money, property and buildings.

In a March 29, 2021, certified letter, the city informed Joseph he had 60 days to construct a number of buildings and hire about 150 workers or it would file a lawsuit. The city followed through June 17, 2021, with the lawsuit that was postponed because of the Joseph legal action.

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge ruled Nov. 29 the companies and Joseph owed $2.58 million to Richard A. Briskey, a Sunbury businessman, in a breach of contract lawsuit. Briskey won the case by default when the companies and Joseph never responded to the lawsuit. Briskey is now a party in the foreclosure lawsuit.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.