WALBRIDGE – The mayor said he has cleared up any confusion with bills pertaining to a business that the
administration wanted to keep in the village.
At the Oct. 7 council meeting, Dan Wilczynski said work on the Professional Transportation Inc. building
cost $40,000, or $30,000 more than expected.
The reason, he said, was that the work had to be contracted out, instead of village workers doing it
themselves. The village had a contract date with PTI, which is leasing the building from Walbridge, to
move in and had to finish the work on schedule.
Councilman Ed Kolanko, at a meeting last month, tried to get the other five members to not pay for bills
that pertain to PTI, saying the project had gone way over budget. Kolanko said the remodeling costs for
the building soared "substantially."
His motion not to pay those bills failed.
Council voted in March to buy property at 30801 Drouillard Road, which was formerly Lebro Chemical, for
$70,000. PTI, which used to be located on Main Street by the library, is leasing the building from the
village, covering the mortgage and taxes. The lease agreement was designed to keep PTI in the village.
The business is responsible for about $20,000 annually in income tax to the village.
When asked if he would do the whole thing again with the additional expenses, Wilczynski said
"definitely.
"If you can get a two-year payback on a capital investment, I’d take that deal everyday," he
said.
The mayor said the extra costs have no bearing on this year’s budget which has revenues – and
appropriations – running under projections, he reported to council. Currently there is a $50,000
shortfall expected out of a $1.3 million budget. Line items and continued belt-tightening should offset
that loss, Wilczynski said.
Also at the meeting, council:
¥ Approved an emergency ordinance hiring Geddis Paving and Excavating Inc., Toledo, for $53,208 to do
several paving projects in the village.
¥ Heard Wilczynski said the Sixth District Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision regarding an
easement parcel. The mayor said the village’s attorney fees have been covered through insurance, with a
$1,000 deductible. He added that the village did not file the lawsuits.
¥ Heard the administration will start a major undertaking of revamping the phone system. Wilczynski said
the village pays Centrex $13,000 a year for its phones and he estimated a new company could provide a
$9,000 annual savings. There are several phone lines that are for dispatch, which is now handled by Lake
Township, and other ones that aren’t needed. He said the whole system is so confusing that phone company
representatives haven’t been able to explain it.