Votes at a glance: Youngstown council adopts HUD consolidated plan, equipment purchases and a package of ordinances

Youngstown City Council adopted a package of ordinances on Aug. 1, 2025, voting repeatedly to suspend the rules and approve measures ranging from a $587,973 sewer cleaner purchase to the city’s five-year HUD Consolidated Plan and several small discretionary transfers.

On motions frequently made by Councilman Mike Ray, council voted (yeas 6, nays 0; Amber White absent) to adopt a long list of measures read for a second time. Key approvals included:

- ORD-25-253: Payment of $96,044 to the Ohio Water Development Authority (adopted). - ORD-25-254: Purchase of a Vactor 2110i vacuum sewer cleaner mounted on a truck, not to exceed $587,973 (adopted). - ORD-25-255: Professional services agreement for an expert witness (City of Youngstown v. Anne Vogel), costs not to exceed $30,000 (adopted). - ORD-25-256: Professional collection services agreement for grass cutting and lot cleanup, costs not to exceed $120,000 (adopted). - ORD-25-258: Agreement with Core & Main for Sprybackflow, total cost not to exceed $105,000, paid over five years (adopted). - ORD-25-259: Authorization to conduct an online public auction of surplus vehicles and equipment (adopted). - ORD-25-260 and ORD-25-261: Authorizations to direct Ohio Edison to install 100W streetlights at specified locations; estimated related capital charges ~$2,464.50 and $2,786.12, monthly operating cost ~$4.98 each (adopted). - ORD-25-262: Formal adoption of the City of Youngstown five-year 2025–2029 HUD Consolidated Plan, the 2025–2026 Annual Action Plan, and revised Citizen Participation Plan (adopted). - ORD-25-263 and ORD-25-264: Amendments to the master salary ordinance and hourly/annual wage for the Capital Project Engineer (adopted). - ORD-25-265: Amendment to the HOME ARP grant amount, increasing it from $2,516,342.00 to $2,520,102.00 (adopted). - ORD-25-266 through ORD-25-285: A series of codified-ordinance amendments, appropriations, and small discretionary expenditures (exposure pay, neighborhood beautification, summer youth enrichment, festival support and other ward discretionary allocations), each adopted by recorded vote of yeas 6, nays 0.

Several appropriations tied to federal housing programs were explicitly adopted: ORD-25-271 (ESG $290,441), ORD-25-272 (HOME $424,917.30) and ORD-25-273 (CDBG $3,266,480). Council was told HUD rules require certain ordinances to be in place for funding eligibility.

The packet of routine and programmatic measures passed with uniform recorded tallies and will proceed to implementation steps described in each ordinance (Board of Control review, contract advertisements or transfers as noted in ordinance language).