SOBE receiver expects heat to return to downtown buildings late Wednesday night

YOUNGSTOWN After nearly a week without heating and cooling, SOBE receiver Reg Martin tells 21 News he expects relief to be coming soon for affected buildings.

Martin tells 21 News crews turned on the boiler's water pressure Wednesday afternoon, but the water pressure relief valve was not functional, so crews are working to replace it.

Martin says he expects heat to return to downtown Youngstown buildings that relied on SOBE's boiler for heating and cooling between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Wednesday.

SOBE has been without a boiler for nearly a week following a court order to repossess the Wabash-owned boiler it had been using to provide heating and cooling to about 27 buildings in downtown Youngstown.

The new boiler was delivered over the weekend, but on Monday, it was found that the boiler needed a replacement part. That part came in on Tuesday, with the next step in the process being getting approval from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use the boiler.

A spokesperson for the Ohio EPA told 21 News the agency approved the use of the boiler as of Wednesday afternoon, meaning the boiler is ready to get up and running.

Martin previously told 21 News he'd like to get a secondary backup boiler to prevent a situation like this from happening again.

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