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GIRARD – Wanting to make sure they use the remaining nearly $70,000 in American Rescue Plan funds before the end of the year, council approved having Engineer Zach Teter proceed with work at the Wellman Theater on West Liberty Street.
Teter said at Tuesday’s council meeting the $70,000 is what remains of the ARP funds the city received. All ARP funds must be used by the end of the year or must be returned to the federal government, which granted the money to the state during the pandemic. The state disbursed the funds to counties, who then disbursed funds to their local communities.
He said the money will be used for the theater’s facade and roof, as well as demolition of a section of the building in the alleyway.
“All of us want to see this money spent and put to good use. This is a project we need to move forward on. The facade portion of the project will be done next,” Councilman Thomas Grumley, D-4th Ward, said.
Councilman John Moliterno, D-3rd Ward, said residents soon will be seeing a lot of work being done on the theater.
When the theater is renovated, plans are to have programs and events there by working with local performing arts groups.
City officials approved entering into an agreement with the Trumbull County Land Reutilization Corporation to make an application to the Ohio Department of Development Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program for limited demolition and redevelopment of the Wellman building and the surrounding properties that are vacant.
The city also will submit an application with the ODOD for removing, repairing and securing or demolishing unsafe, defective and abandoned vacant structures within the city as mandated by the Trumbull County Combined Health District. Council also is proceeding with addressing the facades and signs of other businesses in the city’s downtown area.
Grumley said the city, with the help of KO Consulting, is seeking funds for improvement work in the Parkwood area of the city, which is in his ward.
In other business, council voted 6-1 to expend $45,938 to pay MS Consultants for engineering and consulting work done in late 2025. Councilman Keith Schubert, D-1st Ward, cast the “no” vote, explaining that the city administration signed the contract in March 2026 for the work done in November and December 2025.
“MS Consultants came to the administration and asked for an extension of the original contact for 2025 to do additional work. Council did decline a new contract in 2026. The money was not appropriated correctly by the city and is not the way the city funds should be used. We already spent over $400,000 in 2025 on engineering and consulting services. This additional $45,000 bill was not under the contract with MS Consultants. The city needed to be more transparent about this, which they were not and is why I am voting no,” Schubert said.
Grumley said the city administration extended the contract with MS Consultants for additional work and while he does not agree with the process city officials took to pay additional funds, he would support the $45,000 for the engineering work that was completed.
“My vote is to pay MS Consultants for the work, but is not an approval of the process used by the city and I expect the city to do things differently moving forward by getting council’s approval. We have the responsibility to protect taxpayer dollars and to make sure proper procedures are followed,” he said.
Council also suspended the readings on an ordinance renaming and dedicating a section of the Girard-McDonald viaduct to Girard resident and Vietnam veteran Kenneth David.
Moliterno said David was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by former President Joseph Biden.
“The city is very honored to have a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who will be honored in this way,” Moliterno said.
Mayor Mark Zuppo said the city is working with the Trumbull County Veterans Commission on the recognition.
He said no date for the dedication has been scheduled yet.
Council scheduled an economic development meeting for 6 p.m. and a finance meeting at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 26