Officials: City not paying St. Joe Center bill

The city of Lorain is not responsible to pay a $1 million electric bill of the St. Joseph Community Center, said Mayor Chase Ritenauer.

The former St. Joseph Hospital, 205 W. 20th St., for years, functioned as a community center with business and nonprofit tenants in central Lorain’s Ward 2.

Councilman Dennis Flores, who represents that part of the city, asked about the issue in the regular Council meeting Oct. 2.

People in the audience gasped when Flores said the city could be liable for an overdue electric bill of $1.2 million and that the center owed $350,000 for a water bill.

Flores asked the Law Department to research any ongoing discussions about the electric bill and if the center owes the city money.

“I understand this is not under your administration; it’s a past administration, but somebody should be held accountable,” Flores said to Ritenauer.

Representatives from power provider FirstEnergy were not available for additional comment Oct. 5.

During the administration of Mayor Tony

Krasienko, the city agreed to help the center, but did not agree to take on the expenses for electric power, said Ritenauer and Assistant Law Director Don Zaleski.

This week, they said the city is not responsible for the electric bill.

“There’s a big bill from FirstEnergy, a big electric bill,” Zaleski said. “They seem to think the city’s responsible for it.”

Ritenauer also cited the previous administration’s efforts to keep the St. Joe Center viable in central Lorain.

However, the South Shore Development Corp. owned the center and is responsible for paying the bills, the mayor said.

The city has no paperwork showing the city intended to pay that expense, Zaleski said.

“So, it’s our position that

we are not responsible for the electric bill,” he said. “The city is not responsible.

“I just know the electric bill apparently went unpaid for quite a long period of time. Our position is that we are not legally responsible for any electric bill there on the premises.”

The expense became apparent as city officials pitched the building as a location for a developer who could buy it for a low price if the developer assumed the cost of the utilities, Flores said.

In the past, Council approved transferring money to cover costs of the building, Flores said.

One ordinance referred to an outstanding utility bill of at least $117,000 at the time, he said.

Eventually, the city needs some resolution with the bill and options for the St. Joe

Center, Ritenauer said.

The expense makes it difficult to market the center to a potential user because FirstEnergy may have legal options to try to collect money for the bill from a future owner, he said.

If no end user is found, demolition could be an option, but that price tag could be $3 million, Ritenauer said.

The city does not have that money to spend and no imminent prospects for getting state or federal aid to pay for it, he said.

Flores suggested using the site for City Hall, which could become an option if the city could work out an agreement to sell its waterfront site to a developer.

As for the water bill, the city of Lorain Utilities Department had no records of outstanding water bills, a worker there said.