SitemapThe city’s board of control hired Gene Fehr, a former Mahoning County Common Pleas Court magistrate, to serve as the speed-enforcement hearing officer for $95 an hour.
Fehr, of Austintown, said, “I’m learning what this legal entity is,” referring to being a speed-enforcement hearing officer. “I know it’s not a criminal court, but I need to research what rules of procedure apply. It’s definitely going to be a process for everyone as to how this is done."
The board chose Fehr over four other applicants.
Fehr recently returned to private practice this spring after 14 years as a county common pleas magistrate. He remains a part-time magistrate in the mayor’s court in Louisville in Stark County, which handles matters such as speeding.
Fehr said he and some city officials plan to visit a jurisdiction with speed radar guns to see how they handle the matters.
“I want it to be a friendly court,” he said. “I’ve read The Vindicator and I know some people see it as a money grab. I don’t. This will be a learning process. We don’t want to make it difficult.
”The hearings would start either late this month or in November, said city Law Director Martin Hume, a board of control member.
City officials didn’t know Thursday how many appeals of the citations have been made.
As of last week, the police department had cited about 2,500 people for speeding using radar guns. The program started Aug. 18.
The system allows police officers to point the radar guns at cars and have civil-fee citations issued rather than stopping speeders and giving them moving-violation tickets with a fine and points on their driving records.
Under state law, a uniformed police officer must use the guns to check speed.
Optotraffic, a Latham, Md., company, provided the speed guns and handles the paperwork, including mailing the citations, for a fee of 35 percent.
Speeders face civil penalties: $100 for those driving up to 13 mph over the speed limit, $125 for 14 to 19 mph over the limit, and $150 for those driving at least 20 mph over the limit.
Records show the city issues citations for vehicles that go at least 12 mph over the speed limit on highways and at least 10 mph over the limit in school zones.
Also Thursday, the board approved a $38,070 contact to have ProQuality Land Development of Campbell demolish the former Krakusy Hall at 2205 South Ave.
Seven companies sought the job, but several had trouble understanding the proposal, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public-works department.
That led to proposals ranging from $37,777 to $13,846,945. That apparent low proposal didn’t include much of the work needed to take down the structure, he said. ProQuality had the least-expensive complete proposal for the work, Shasho said.
The 76-year-old building has been vacant for about seven or eight years and is in bad shape, said Abigail Beniston, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent.It was the home of the Free Polish Krakusy Society and was used for various events from weddings to boxing matches.
“This helps clean up the corridor of South Avenue,” Beniston said.The board also approved a $48,275 proposal from Environmental Protection Systems of Girard to remove asbestos from 16 vacant houses on East Avondale and East Boston avenues, near Taft Elementary School.
“These are the worst of the abandoned houses around the school,” Beniston said. “We surrounded the perimeter of the school. This is really going to make a difference in that neighborhood.
”The demolition work will be done by Youngstown Air Reserve Station reservists at no cost. It’s part of an agreement with the city to have Air Force reservists do various neighborhood blight-removal projects.
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