BUILDING QUESTIONS — City officials say a burned-out building in the alley behind North Seventh Street will be razed “in the next couple of weeks, hopefully.” Despite being heavily damaged, residents living in the vicinity waited more than a year for the rickety structure to make it to the top of the demo list. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — More than a year after it was gutted by fire, city officials said Wednesday the burned-out shell of a building in an alley behind the 200 block of North Seventh Street in downtown Steubenville is going to be coming down soon.

Questions about why it was still standing had been raised during council’s Tuesday meeting, since buildings damaged beyond repair by fire or in danger of collapsing are supposed to go to the top of the list. The building in question qualified on both counts,

But during the meeting there was confusion about the address of the property in question, and Urban Projects Director Jessica Gumm had believed it was one the Jefferson County Land Bank had slated for demolition in the spring.

City Manager Jim Mavromatis said once he was able to verify the address, he found out it’s scheduled to come down before that.

“It’s been contracted out and I’m hoping he will take care of it in the next couple of weeks,” Mavromatis said. “It’s been awarded to a contractor.”

Fourth Ward Councilman Royal Mayo had told council residents living near the rickety, largely open-air structure, are angry that it’s taken so long.

“Constituents who live there (say) it’s a hazard, they have kids and grandkids (there),” he’d said at the time. “The people who live there don’t want to wait … the risk and safety to the people live around it, they don’t want to wait. I don’t want to hear that (they need to wait.) It’s been burned, it’s (still) standing and nobody who lives around it wants it to stand.”

Mayo said eliminating the hazard is “what my constituents deserve and it’s what I expected and wanted.”

City Finance Director Dave Lewis, meanwhile, said it’s too early in the planning process to discuss preliminary budget numbers but things “appear tight.”

“As with any local government budget, resources are limited,” he said. “We will be working with Mavromatis and council to develop a plan to fund as much as possible, utilizing available grants and various resources. There’s definitely (a lot of) work ahead in finalizing the city’s 2026 spending plan.”

Lewis said the “slightly higher” budget requests that have come in so far are “from impacts from inflation,” while the city income tax — Steubenville’s main source of general fund revenue, “has been relatively flat, so we will be working to keep any budget increases to a minimum.”

Legislation was unveiled which would authorize the city manager to seek bids for construction of the Phase 2 water protection plan upgrade, including construction of the fourth pulsator, a fifth filter and a complete supervisory control and data acquisition upgrade.

Also introduced was legislation that would allow city officials to lease the mineral rights under Beatty Park and the old city landfill.

Council also passed resolutions:

• Honoring former Assistant Fire Chief Michael Taylor, who lost his battle with job-related cancer in 2024. He’d served the department for 30 years before his last shift, in February 2018, and his name was added to the Fallen Firefighter Wall of Honor in September.

• Proclaiming this week as Fire Prevention Week. This year’s theme is Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home, with a focus on staying safe while using products that contain them.

• Designating October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Oct. 17 as National Mammography Day, both intended to emphasize the importance of screenings as well as fundraising for important research.

• Recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, aimed at educating community residents about abusive behaviors, which can be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and financial. The 2025 theme, With Survivors, Always, provides for a partnership with survivors toward safety, support and solidarity.