WARREN, Ohio - Warren City Council members have scheduled a meeting on Tuesday to further plans to remove a dam along the Mahoning River that has been the scene of several drownings and near-drownings over the years.

Engineering Committee Chairman Mark Forte has called a meeting for 3 p.m. Tuesday to discuss a draft agreement with the Ohio EPA and Eastgate Regional Council of Governments for engineering, planning, and design services to remove the Summit Street dam.

In 2017, when a 12-year-old girl nearly drowned near the dam, Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle called the dam a “drowning machine” because of tremendous water pressure there, as well as the risk of becoming impaled on debris that gathers there.

Chief Nussle said at the time that three people had been trapped in the dam area over the past 20 years, and none survived.

Last May, police and a good Samaritan rescued and administered CPR to a 41-year-old woman whose canoe capsized at the dam.

A man who was attempting to rescue a canoeist from the rushing waters of the Mahoning River got help from a Warren Police Officer.

In addition to removing the dam, city leaders are also working on plans to build a launch for kayaks and canoes in the area behind Packard Park.