Youngstown City Council voted to move a spending proposal forward to a special meeting for an up or down vote.

 

Currently, the legislature calls for spending up to 3 million dollars for plans for a new police, fire, and community complex.

Councilwoman Samantha Turner has asked to see funding options before that vote. 

 

"That normally is ten percent of the proposed amount to build the property, so that's 30 million dollars. I would like to see a capital stack and how we plan to fund a 30 million dollar build before I can say yes to expending those dollars for architecture and engineering," Councilwoman Samantha Turner said.

 

Some other council members want to see other sites reviewed but Mayor Jamal Tito Brown points out that the proposed location at the Old Wick Six, where all the auto dealerships in Youngstown were located has its benefits. "When you start talking about the city is looking at a piece of property, sometimes that property doubles and triples, but I think we go with the property we have. We own it. We don't owe anything on it," Youngstown Mayor Jamal Tito Brown said. 

 

The current 84-year-old police building has had problems with broken pipes, flooding, unusable aging fire escapes, and more.  

 

There are some discussions about other configurations for the building, and allocating less for the architecture and engineering for now.

 

"I'm fine putting forth three three million because I know the project has to get going. Some of my colleagues want 1.5, some want to do one million. Either way, this project needs to move forward, so however we need to get there and get it done and give this asset to our community, Councilman Julius Oliver said. 

 

More discussions will continue before a March 26th special Tuesday meeting for an up or down vote.