A Uhrichsville project originally expected to be completed all at once will now be split into two phases, as a local business owner says these continued delays are taking a financial toll on his company.
Current administration secured grant funding for a full-depth asphalt replacement and curb widening of N. Wardell Street. Mayor Jim Zucal says the project was delayed after the law director wanted contract changes and the auditor said the city didn’t have enough upfront money before the grant reimbursement.
“This is the one with the financing where the issue was do we have the money and the law director deferred to a legal team in Columbus. I didn’t think there should have been a legal issue.”
ColorWrap President and Owner Bill Nowak shared his frustration to city council at their latest meeting.
“We knew a contract had to be made in 2025, and nothing was done. Somebody dropped the ball. And what does that mean to ColorWrap? That means losses and losses. What we thought was just supposed to be until July, because at the end of July the project was going to kick off because we were going to have the money, now it’s the end of September, and that project’s not happening this year.”
Nowak notes his biggest concern is the condition of the road between the Wardell railroad tracks and his business. He says the rough roadway can cause paint to chip and windows to break while products are being transported, costing the company an estimated $640,000 a year in lost profits.
“The city’s also not getting whatever their percentage of city taxes on that profit either. Then on top of that, so I didn’t continue to lose customers, I had to invest in one-time use packaging materials. I’ve thrown away for the last two years $700,000 a year in one-time use packaging materials so I didn’t lose customers.”
He says they even experimented by checking the painted or laminated windows and doors once they were in the semi-trailer.
“We went down to the end of the street. We went where the old, on Trenton, the bowling alley, looked in the back of the truck, and most of the units were damaged, had paint damage, and the only section of street we went down was Wardell.”
Council did approve the project bid a couple of meetings ago, and phase one, a sanitary sewer replacement, is expected to begin this year. The other portion, including paving, would occur sometime next year.
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