YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - In response to public statements made by Youngstown city officials regarding the M.J. Joseph Development, Corp (MJJDC) and the Chill Can project, Attorney Brian Kopp Monday filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment in the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of the company.

In the complaint, the company denies that it has either defaulted or abandoned the project and asks the court to declare that the city does not have a right to recover grant funds for the alleged default, has no right to title and possession of the company's property and does not possess a right to monetary damages under the Enterprise Agreement contract.

This comes as last week, city officials told 21 News they planned to file a lawsuit against Mitchell Joseph's company after months of missed deadlines for both construction and hiring.

The city's law director said that they gave the company 60 days to meet that benchmark, but negotiations Wednesday fell apart. 

He said Joseph's lawyers wanted to give the city $250,000 for the project to keep going.

However, the city is now demanding restitution of about $2 million in damages because the city claims the company hasn't held up its end of a deal and has left taxpayer dollars tied up in an uncompleted project.

"Representatives of the city have repeatedly claimed Youngstown has powers and avenues of recourse that are not explicitly spelled out in the contracts," Atty. Kopp said. "To counter those statements, we are asking the court to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties so MJJDC can move forward."

Unfortunately, the city's rhetoric makes it extremely difficult for MJJDC to achieve its stated goal: completing the facility, hiring local residents, starting production, and making Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley a center of the company's operations," Atty. Kopp continued. 

"The future is bright for our company and we are excited about the opportunities that will accompany the end of pandemic-related restrictions," MJJDC President Mitchell Joseph said. "We have committed millions of our own dollars to this project and we want and need it to become an integral part of our operations. We acknowledge that there have been delays, but our global business partners continue to work with us, and we hope the city will do the same."

"It was necessary to file the lawsuit to secure my client's investment and to ensure that this project will pay dividends to the city and MJJDC for years to come," Atty Kopp concluded.

The full complaint can be seen below.