YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider Wednesday permitting the board of control to accept a $1.6 million federal grant to pay 75% of the salaries of eight police officers and increase a state loan by about $2.8 million for a lead waterline replacement project.

Council also is being asked to permit the board to spend up to $236,627 for work at the Covelli Centre.

The city received a $1,612,179 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for the period between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2029. The grant pays 75% of the salaries for eight police officers with the city paying $537,390, the remaining 25%.

Overall, $2,149,560 will be spent for the eight officers over a five-year period, which is $53,739 annually so a portion of the expenses will likely also go towards their health insurance costs as well. A Youngstown police officer’s starting pay is about $44,000 annually.

The city hired five officers in December so the federal funding may go toward covering the salaries of those and three others.

Some city council members expressed concerns last year about the administration wanting to use the remaining $882,762 from a $1,722,762 American Rescue Plan grant the city received in 2022 for 10% pay bonuses for each Youngstown police officer and emergency 911 dispatcher rather than use a portion to pay the salaries of five new patrol officers.

At a Dec. 4 council meeting, Detective Sgt. Seann Carfolo, the police department’s fiscal officer, said the city was applying for the federal COPS grant to pay for new officers, and he didn’t believe the grant money could be used on top of the ARP funding to pay those salaries. By giving the bonuses, the city could cover the salaries of officers for an additional year, he said.

The $840,000 already paid from the ARP grant, before the council vote to approve the 10% bonuses, went toward the salaries of nine police officers hired earlier in 2024.

Police overtime increased in 2024 to $3.25 million from $2.92 million in 2023.

Fifteen city police officers made more than $50,000 each in overtime last year with Detective Sgt. Edward Kenney receiving $150,681 — more than twice his regular salary.

City council on March 5 requested Finance Director Kyle Miasek ask the state auditor to conduct a performance audit of the police and fire departments, largely because of the police overtime issue. Miasek made the request.

LOAN INCREASE REQUEST

The administration also is asking council on Wednesday to permit the board of control to amend an agreement with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for a loan from up to $14 million to $16,782,881 for a water main and lead line replacement project in the Buckeye Plat neighborhood on the city’s southeast side.

Council voted Feb. 5 to permit the board of control to seek proposals and enter into a contract for the project.

The project includes the replacement of more than 10,000 linear feet of waterlines.

The increase is the result of “additional changes during the final design phase” of the project, according to legislation sponsored by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown.

The Ohio EPA revolving loan program permits 50% of it to be forgiven, said Water Commissioner Harry L. Johnson III.

The work will begin this summer in two phases and take 16 months and 18 months, respectively, to finish.

The project also would move waterlines connected to houses in the area — which is off Midlothian Boulevard and Sheridan Road — from the rear of the properties to the front, making it easier to gain access to the waterlines, Johnson said.

COVELLI CENTRE

There are two requests in front of council Wednesday regarding work at the city-owned Covelli Centre entertainment facility.

One is to spend up to $200,000 to cover the cost of cleanup, restoration, repair and replacement of lost equipment in the building’s kitchen and mechanical room as the result of a Jan. 22 frozen waterline break in the fire suppression system above the drop ceiling.

In a Feb. 19 email to Miasek, Jordan Ryan, the center’s executive director, wrote the water pipe separated and broke during a cold snap. The waterline was shut off about 15 minutes after the break occurred, but it caused extensive damage.

Ryan’s email read: “Heat in the building was fully operational, but the issue occurred because the building was designed to, while the kitchen equipment and exhaust fan are on, the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system regulates kitchen pressure by opening a damper above the drop ceiling. While normally this is not an issue, temperatures were near record lows and caused the pipe to freeze and break.”

The city filed a claim with its insurance company, Tokio Marine, and is waiting to hear back.

Destroyed by the pipe break were four convection ovens, a pizza oven, a large steamer, an eight-burner grill, two roller ovens, a food processor and a large mixer, Ryan wrote.

Most of the equipment was original to the building, constructed nearly 20 years ago, Miasek said.

It cost about $117,000 to replace the equipment, he said.

Also, the center’s pump controller and transfer switch in a mechanical room near the kitchen experienced heavy water damage, destroying that equipment. There is also the cost of cleanup by SERVPRO of Mahoning and North Columbiana Counties and replacing ceiling tiles.

The center had an operational kitchen eight days after the broken pipe for two sold-out bull riding shows the following weekend, Ryan wrote.

In a separate ordinance, city council is being asked to pay up to $36,627 to Wadsworth Solutions of Perrysburg for the disassembly and replacement of the motor, gearbox and driveshaft at the Covelli Centre’s cooling tower.

The equipment is original to the facility and needed to be replaced in order for the center’s air conditioning system to work, Ryan said Friday.