Dec 12, 2016 3 min read

MONESSEN – A Washington, D.C., businessman has agreed to purchase Monessen City Hall in a move that is expected to ease the financial problems faced by the struggling Mon Valley municipality.

Krishnan Suthanthiran, who said he’s considering his options for the four-story building, signed a sales agreement Monday with the city to purchase the property for $425,000, money that will help to shore up the city’s finances and save Monessen more than $100,000 a year in electric bills alone.

“It stops us from draining,” said Monessen Mayor Lou Mavrakis, who viewed the building as a money pit for local taxpayers. “We stopped the bleeding.”

Monessen moved its offices into the former Mon Valley Community Health Center about six years ago after the health center authority was disbanded and the original city hall was condemned. Renamed Monessen Municipal Complex, the building at 1 Wendell Ramey Lane is about half occupied and in need of at least $200,000 in renovations.

“The city is going to see a new revival,” said Suthanthiran, who also owns the former Brownsville Hospital in Fayette County.

Suthanthiran, whose holdings manufacture cancer treatment supplies, agreed to make a $235,000 down payment for the building and finance the remaining $190,000 for five years at two percent interest, city records show.

Under the agreement, Monessen will lease office space for city operations for $1,500 a month, he said.

Suthanthiran said he might use the building as a call center where workers would take orders and ship products.

Monessen Councilman Ron Chiaravalle said he agreed that the building was a financial hardship, especially after the city started 2016 with a $616,000 deficit. Chiaravalle said it appeared the city had approved the payment of bills but waited until the last minute to send the payments in 2015, causing the city to spend its entire $500,000 tax-anticipation loan before the end of January and lay off four workers.

He said he didn’t suspect wrongdoing, adding that it appeared no one wanted to admit there were problems.

The 2017 budget of $4 million was created carefully, with the help of a consultant, to ensure income and expenses are within reasonable expectations.

“It’s absolutely realistic,” Chiaravalle said.

Deborah Grass of Grass Roots Solutions in Pittburgh was hired by the city as a consultant under the state’s early intervention program, which is designed to steer municipalities away from becoming financially distressed.

Grass said Monessen will end 2016 with a slight surplus because some revenues came in higher than what had been projected and a number of vacant positions were not filled.

“We were adamant about not spending any money unless it was absolutely necessary,” Chiaravalle said.