Youngstown: New clerk, plans to rehab gazebo

By Senior Contributing Writer Benjamin Joe

The Village of Youngstown has hired a new clerk, Angela Skimin.

At the village’s Board of Trustee’s meeting on Thursday, Skimin said she was eager for the challenge.

“I’m excited to be here. I’m ready to help the village be more organized. It’s been a while since we had a solid team, it sounds like, so I’m excited to be part of that team,” she said. “I’m excited to be a part of the village I live in.”

Following the meeting, Mayor Mike DeDario said, “We’re really happy she’s on board. She jumped right in and is already completing her role very well.”

In other news

The Garden Club said members will meet with the village’s Department of Public Works to decide when the Village Gazebo could be rehabilitated. A painter was ready to start right away, said Garden Club member Garda O’Keefe. She noted a contractor could start quickly.

There was some hesitation voiced by Trustee Nicole Quarantillo.

“My only concern with this project starting right now is we’re in the middle of summer,” she said. That park right now is just filled with kids, we have rec programs every day. If we have construction vehicles there … I don’t want to see parking taken away from families who need it for their kids.”

Quarantillo asked if the construction could wait until after Labor Day.

DeDario asked DPW Superintendent Greg Quarantillo if he saw a proper timeline.

“So, after speaking with the Garden Club and speaking with the board, we understand there’s potentially some structural issues that need to be addressed. Code enforcement, I can almost assure you, is going to make us put some kind of barricade around it to keep kids from playing on it,” Quarantillo said.

“I do have a concern, that I did speak to the mayor about yesterday, regarding starting now. I did not know your hope was to have it done by Labor Day. My thought was to have it start after Labor Day. The only reason is in the summer time you have a lot of people.”

Quarantillo did agree, however, to speak to the contractor.

“If the board so chooses, I’m more than happy,” he said.

Lakewood Landscaping was chosen as the contractor for $14,500.

“The contractor will work with Greg on a timeline that works for the village. We might not be able to start tomorrow, but it works for the village when we have all the plans,” DeDario said.