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STEUBENVILLE -- City officials are still working with an unidentified developer who expressed interest in the old Grant School property.
At Tuesday's meeting, Law Director Costa Mastros told City Council he's "been going back and forth with the developer and looped in the Port Authority, because I think that's how we're going to have to sell this."
"I think then the port authority would like to meet with (City Manager Jim Mavromatis) and I, then we will have to meet with the developer to get an agreement together," he said. "But it's moving."
In May, Mavromatis had told council there was a potential buyer willing to invest "more than a million dollars" in developing the property. At the time, he'd said the buyer was aware the 0.94-acre site would first need to be remediated before any dirt is turned.
Urban Projects Director Chris Petrossi, who wasn't in attendance Tuesday, previously said that could that cost anywhere from $350,000 to $500,000. He said core borings at the site revealed "subsurface geologic conditions that need mitigated before a building can be built on the site."
First Ward Councilwoman Asantewa Anyabwile said before any decisions are made she'd like to see a town hall in the South End to find out what residents there want.
"I'll keep that in mind," Mastros said. "I don't control the timetable, but I understand what you're telling me."
It's not the first time city officials have fielded inquiries about the site, but their interest quickly waned when they found out how much money they'd have to spend before construction even started.
Four years ago, council rezoned the property to B-1, Central Business District, paving the way for a developer to come forward with plans for the property: It had previously been zoned public/semi-public even though it hadn't been used as a school building since the 1980s. The old school building was sold to a private owner in 1996, the building demolished in 2004 and the property sold to the city in 2009. Since then, it's been used primarily for parking for the annual Holy Trinity Greek Festival and is home to the Downtown Steubenville Farmers Market.
"If this goes through, I'll be extremely happy, it will put 10 jobs in that area, people in the South End would be able to walk to work," Mavromatis said after the meeting. "Not to mention it will be in the downtown here, people will have access to it."
Fifth Ward Councilman Willie Paul, chair of council's finance committee, meanwhile, asked Finance Director Dave Lewis to look for a way to meet the city's financial commitment to the Jefferson County Port Authority.
"The budget's going to be kind of tight for next year," Paul said. "But when we started, we collaborated with the county, to form the port authority ... our commitment was $50,000, which we never hit. We've always stayed at $40,000."
There are nine seats on the port authority board. The city and Jefferson County commissioners each appoint four of them.
"I'd just like Dave (Lewis) to put it on our wish list," he said. "I'd like to see if we can get it in our budget as well."
Mavromatis updated council on the status of their new part-time parking enforcement officer.
"I'm in the process of trying to hire one," Mavromatis said. "We've had a couple already apply. Ideally, I'd like to get a retired policeman, that would be best."
Anyabwile also sunshined legislation allocating $25,000 from the city's ARPA funding for additional equipment for the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center weight room/fitness area, in addition to the $25,000 expenditure that's already been penciled into the recreation budget.
Second reading was given to ordinance that would authorize Mavromatis to contract with ODOT for the Sunset Boulevard resurfacing project and executing a sub-recipient grant agreement with Urban Mission Ministries for the use of CDBG funds for continuation of the existing Microenterprise Assistance Program.
Prior to the regular meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Lori Featherolf and Sanitation, Electric and Public Works Director Bob Baird presented their proposed budgets for 2024.