For years, Farrell council members have bemoaned the difficulty of trying to attract development to town. Monday, they were reminded just how human an endeavor it is.

On one hand, council was admonished for offering for development a parcel that had been eyed for recreation. On the other, it lost potential development for failing to give a developer a break.

Dr. Thomas R. Hawkins, vice president of the Shenango Valley Initiative, chastised council for granting an option on land along Hamliton Avenue between Union and Federal streets to Independence Park Inc.

The firm is a corporation set up by Mercer County Community Action Agency to build housing for chronically mentally ill people who can live on their own.

Independence Park allowed city officials to pick the site.

SVI, a faith-based organization that works for community and economic development, had chosen the site as one of five areas for possible development into parks, and council in August 1999 endorsed the plan without committing to it.

In a letter to council read by SVI executive vice president Mary Rose Marks, Hawkins noted that SVI had received a $3,000 grant from the federal Appalachian Regional Commission for development of the plan and erection of signs on each site, the hours of coordination it took to compile the plan and the cooperation of Mercer County Housing Authority and Mercer County Regional Planning Commission.

"This planned mini-park is totally disregarded, without comment or concern," Hawkins stated.

Mayor William Morocco said council was aware of the conflict when it offered the site to Independence Park, but decided to take the money.

"The first responsibility is revenue and we're sorely in need of it," he said.

Independence Park would buy the property for its appraised value. The firm would not pay real estate taxes but has agreed to pay up to what it would pay in taxes should any money be left after its bills are paid.

Morocco acknowledged the city's recreational offerings do not measure up to what they did years ago.

"I think everyone up here realizes the obligation to expand what we offer and we need to find a way to do it," he said.

The city will look to make other land available for recreation, he said.

In the other matter, Audrey Koi of Sharon asked the city to exonerate her from having to pay $566 in sewer and garbage fees owed at 728 Lee Ave.

Ms. Koi bought the property at tax sale and plans to renovate it for rental.

Ms. Koi said the fees were accrued because the previous owners died but services were not immediately severed.

Ms. Koi has bought and renovated three other properties in the city, including a six-unit apartment complex at 705-715 Lee.

Ms. Koi argued that she saved the city the $3,000 it would have had to spend to raze the building, and has invested thousands in the city.

Councilman Louis Falconi said Ms. Koi should get the exoneration because she has put money into city properties and brought residents to town.

Councilwoman Helen Marenchin voted with Falconi, although, she asked that council develop a policy on how to handle such requests.

Morocco, reversing an opinion he expressed last month, and council members Robert Burich, Rudolph Hammond and Peter D. Stephanopoulos voted down Ms. Koi's request.

Morocco complimented Ms. Koi on the work she did with the apartment building but noted that the city lost out on five years of taxes -- about $750 -- that were erased in the tax sale. "The city has to run on something else besides appearances and filled property," said Morocco.

He also said Ms. Koi was able to buy the property for a negligible price: $200 plus $761 in costs. Ms. Koi said the property is appraised at $23,000.

"This is the thanks I get," said Ms. Koi, a Hermitage native who moved back to the Shenango Valley after a 40-year absence. "I'm angry. I'm very angry.

She's so angry that she will not buy any more property in Farrell, she said.

"I quit," she said. "I'm going to go to Greenville and Sharon next."

Ms. Koi said she has remodeled houses for 25 years -- she called it her "mission.

"It needs my help," she said of Farrell.