YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control is expected to vote today on $5.3 million worth of American Rescue Plan programs with the largest being $5 million to help people buy and maintain homes in Youngstown.

City council on Dec. 20 approved creating the “At Home in Youngstown” $5 million fund to be administered by Huntington Bank. The agenda for today’s board of control agenda includes a professional services agreement with Huntington for the $5 million and a memorandum of understanding with Catholic Charities to handle applications for the funding.

Expenses covered under the program include a maximum of $5,000 for down payments and closing costs and up to an additional $10,000 for interior plumbing, electrical and structural repairs and energy efficient upgrades to windows, furnaces and hot water tanks.

Those who qualify must live in the house in the city for at least five years or the funds have to be returned. Total annual household income must fall between $27,450 and $104,220 with the homebuyer’s minimum contribution being $500.

The $5 million for At Home in Youngstown is one of the largest ARP allocations for a single program in Youngstown.

The city received $82,775,370 in ARP funds.

The two other ARP items on the board’s agenda are $250,000 for corridor improvements in the 2nd Ward and $50,000 for solar security lights in the 6th Ward.

Councilman Jimmy Hughes, D-2nd Ward, sponsored the corridor improvements legislation at council’s June 20 meeting.

The ARP funds will go to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to manage improvements on properties adjacent to primary and secondary thoroughfares in the ward, which includes most of the East Side.

The legislation lists primary roads as McCartney, McGuffey, Early and Jacobs roads, Wilson Avenue and Oak Street.

Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th Ward, sponsored the legislation, also at the June 20 meeting, to spend $50,000 in ARP money for solar security lights for seniors and businesses in her ward, which includes most of the South Side.

City council in April 2022 agreed to give $2 million to each of its seven members for projects in their wards.

Also today, the board will consider increasing the payment to Barber & Hoffman Consulting Engineers of Cleveland by $993.25 to a total of $8,493.25. The board hired the firm for $7,500 on June 6.

Barber & Hoffman conducted a structural engineering study of Realty Tower, released June 10, that stated the downtown building heavily damaged in a May 28 gas explosion was in imminent danger of collapse.

That led the city to evacuate the nearby International Towers, which has more than 170 tenants, on June 14. Also, the Stambaugh Building, which houses the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and is near Realty, has been closed since the May 28 explosion.

The demolition of Realty started Friday and is expected to take four to six weeks.

The National Transportation Safety Board, leading the investigation in the explosion at Realty, had asked the city to hire a “neutral party” to serve as structural engineer to determine if it was safe to enter the building. Barber & Hoffman determined it wasn’t safe.

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