YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider legislation Thursday to have the board of control sign a $685,187 professional services contract for the second phase of a major interceptor sewer project.

The proposal is to pay the money to MS Consultants Inc. to provide design work, construction administration, field representation and testing services for the West Avenue-Division Street project along the Mahoning River.

The first phase of the project — from West Avenue to Bridge Street, a paper street near Front Street — is starting Monday, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, and will cost about $4 million through a construction contract with S.E.T. Inc. of Lowellville.

That work will take about a year to finish, Shasho said.

The second phase will start in the fall and is expected to take less than a year, Shasho said.

The project replaces an old, deteriorating combined storm and sanitary sewer line with 10,800 linear feet of 60-inch and 48-inch lines with an access road, Shasho said.

The new line will eliminate three sewer overflows that discharge about 35.5 million gallons of combined sewage annually into the Mahoning River during heavy rains, according to an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency document.

The city received a $4.83 million grant in July 2023 from the state, using federal American Rescue Plan funds, as well as a $4 million loan from the state that forgives the repayment of the principal to pay for much of this project. The city would pay MS out of its wastewater fund, Shasho said.

“The EPA is happy we’re doing it,” Shasho said of the project. “Every time we get a chance to eliminate sewer overflows, we do it.”

MCCARTNEY ROAD

City council also will vote Thursday to permit the board of control to enter into a final construction agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for a resurfacing project on McCartney Road from South Coitsville Center Road to State Line Road.

Shasho didn’t have the cost of the project available, but said most of it is covered by state funding. The city’s share is $43,080.

In addition to paving a stretch of one of the main corridors on the city’s East Side, the project includes installation of curbs, curb ramps, water work improvements, traffic signal upgrades and pavement markings.

Another ordinance on Thursday’s agenda asks council to pay $127,288 to Tema Roofing Services of Liberty for the emergency replacement of a roof at the city wastewater treatment plant’s administration building.

The roof started leaking Oct. 4 into the foyer and women’s restroom, Shasho said.

The city called a number of local roofing companies for the emergency repairs with Tema being the only company that responded, Shasho said.

“It had to get done,” he said. “It was real bad. It was leaking in multiple spots.”

The roof replacement work is almost done, Shasho said.

SOBE CONTRACT

The administration also is asking council Thursday to authorize the board of control to pay up to $200,000 for 2025 to SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC to supply the city’s steam heat.

The city’s contract with SOBE is for $180,792 annually.

The administration is asking for permission to pay up to $200,000 as a “built-in buffer” in case the cost exceeds the $180,792 paid to SOBE in 2023 and 2024, said Kevin Flinn, the city’s buildings and grounds commissioner.

The city administration hasn’t asked council for approval for utility payments before.

Flinn and Finance Director Kyle Miasek said they didn’t know why it was put on Thursday’s council agenda.

City council on Nov. 20 approved a second one-year moratorium on the process of converting rubber tire chips into synthetic gas that SOBE wants to use at its 205 North Ave. plant, which is a short distance from downtown.

City council approved an initial one-year moratorium Dec. 20, 2023, on the process known as pyrolysis, which is the gasification or combustion of tires, chipped tires, plastics and / or electronic waste into synthetic gas.

SOBE currently uses natural gas combustion to create steam heat to more than 40 customers, including the city, in the downtown area as well as Youngstown State University.