Youngstown City Council OKs $377,500 for 3 Improvement Projects - The Vindicator


City council approved $377,500 in American Rescue Plan spending Wednesday and expects to vote on considerably more projects using the federal funds Dec. 21, its last meeting of the year.

Several council members said they plan to seek additional ARP allocations for larger amounts of money at the next meeting.

Council voted for three ARP-funded ordinances Wednesday.

The most expensive one was $187,500 to the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber for it to “produce and implement a strategy that will help spur development in and around the city,” according to the ordinance.

The legislation, sponsored by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, is for a three-year contract with the chamber, which is matching the $187,500 paid by the city.

The chamber will identify acreage and viable buildings for potential development, and maintain a database so the city can quickly respond to requests from large companies for available sites, said Nikki Posterli, Brown’s chief of staff and head of the city’s community planning and economic development department.

The chamber also will assist with state and local financing.

Another project is to provide $100,000 to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. toward the renovation of the former Foster Art Theatre at 2504 Glenwood Ave. 

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