YOUNGSTOWN — Even though the fire escape replacement project at Youngstown City Hall finished in September, the city remains unable to pass a fire department inspection for other concerns.

A Wednesday inspection pointed out a few issues with the interior and exterior of city hall that connect to the fire escape that need to be addressed.

There were “a couple of small issues,” said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works. “They really have nothing to do with the fire escape.”

The problems are ceiling and floor repairs needed on the top floor of the seven-story building as well as with the grading plan on the exterior of the ground floor, Shasho said.

“We’re going to get through this, and I expect we’ll be back at city hall soon,” he said, repeating something he’s said for the past few months.

Shasho said he was hopeful the work could get done before Thanksgiving with the city fire inspector as well as the Mahoning County Building Department signing off on the project.

Also, the repaving of the police department parking area — and an entrance to its garage — by the fire escape at the rear of city hall will cost about $15,000 to $20,000 and will be done early next year, Shasho said.

Even though the fire escape replacement project finished in September, it couldn’t pass a city fire inspection at the time because of the lack of interior illuminated exit signs inside the building and exterior lighting on the structure. Murphy Contracting Co. of Youngstown, the project’s contractor, did the lighting work earlier this month.

The old fire escape was shut down by fire Chief Barry Finley on March 9, 2023, because of structural problems that then became a series of issues causing delays for the project and consternation among some members of city council.

Those problems resulted in council not meeting in its chambers for the past 20 months.

Council last met in its chambers on the sixth floor March 1, 2023, because of issues with the fire escape.

The expectation from Shasho last month was council could meet in city hall for its Wednesday meeting. But that didn’t happen.

Council next meets Dec. 4.

The fire escape was fabricated off-site and brought to city hall in late July. Installation work finished in September.

The project has experienced a number of issues from the start and the cost has gone up.

Council voted April 19, 2023, to spend up to $250,000 for repair work and designs to the fire escape though Shasho said that amount was never going to be the final cost. At that time, work was to be finished in a few months.

Council voted to increase the maximum cost to $1.1 million on July 31, 2023, after it was decided to replace rather than repair the fire escape.

City council agreed Dec. 20, 2023, to increase the project’s cost from $1.1 million to $1.4 million.

Since then, various issues have caused delays. They include needed additions to the project, the city having to resolve concerns from the county building department about the safety of those inside city hall between the time the old fire escape was dismantled months ago and when a new one was installed, and concerns about the foundation.

There was initial debate between replacement and repairing the fire escape after a Feb. 3, 2023, inspection report determined the fire escape was inoperable. Finley decided March 9, 2023, that the fire escape would be shut down until work to it could be finished.

After Murphy Contracting did repair work, including cleaning and sandblasting the fire escape of bird droppings and rust, it was decided in July 2023 that it would be better to replace rather than repair the aging fire escape even though it would be more expensive.

That not only increased the cost, but it delayed the completion date to January. Ten months later, it’s still not ready.

That’s because after more problems were discovered, council agreed Dec. 20, 2023, to raise the project’s cost to $1.4 million. Work didn’t even start until January – four months behind schedule – and moved the completion date to late February or early March.

Additional issues – including the discovery that a measurement of the structure determined the fire escape and the connecting emergency doors on each floor didn’t match and then the need to resolve that – delayed the completion date to mid-May. Further delays moved the completion to mid-June – and even more issues pushed it to September. The lighting work further delayed it and the issues raised in the inspection pushed it further back yet again.

Shasho said a few months ago that in hindsight the city should have taken its time to have the project properly designed rather than having it designed and followed shortly by work. But wanting to get the fire escape installed, the project was rushed and problems arose, he said.

Since the fire escape was closed in March 2023, city council hasn’t met on city hall’s sixth floor, where its chambers and caucus room are located.

The concern has been that too many members of the public attend council meetings and it would be dangerous to hold them on the sixth floor.

That is because if there is a fire, the building’s two elevators automatically shut down and that would leave only the stairwell as a way to get out in an emergency.

Council meetings have been held since then at either the Covelli Centre community room or the Mahoning County commissioners’ meeting room with the finance committee meeting the same day at the same location starting beforehand.

Other council committee meetings and city bodies also meet elsewhere on lower floors in city hall or at other city-owned buildings.

The board of control has continued to meet on the sixth floor in the council caucus room.

Also, the city is paying $609,180 to Schindler Elevator to replace the elevator at the police department that broke in July. The department is attached to city hall.

It will take about a year before the new elevator is installed.