Two months after the Stony Ridge area sewer project was to be completed, yards are still torn up and
crews are still working.
The $3 million sewer project in the Stony Ridge area has reportedly been delayed by weather, personnel
issues, and lack of payments to subcontractors by the project contractor, Deer Creek Excavating.
The project, now in its 18th month and affecting 240 homes in the Troy Township area, was originally
targeted for completion on Aug. 7. However, the Northwestern Water and Sewer District is now hoping the
work will be done before winter hardens the ground.
"We’re not happy about it," said Jerry Greiner, executive director of the water and sewer
district.
But Greiner is hopeful the sewer line can be completed in time so that residential yards can be repaired
prior to winter.
"We’re still optimistic," he said.
But some of the subcontractors working on the project aren’t settling for optimism. They want paychecks.

According to Greiner, the district has paid out about $2.5 million for the project, which is 95 percent
complete. However, the general contractor Deer Creek Excavating, has not been passing along the pay in
some cases to the subcontractors, Greiner said.
But Ian Frank, an attorney representing the general contractor, said delays are common on a project of
this size – especially one so contested by landowners.
"Disputes did arise involving both schedule and cost," Frank said. "That’s not unusual in
a large project."
The Stony Ridge area was under EPA orders to get sewers since 1985, due to environmental concerns about
contamination from septic systems.
"It was fairly closely scrutinized by homeowners," Frank said of the work. "Some residents
have been very cooperative and others have been very uncooperative."
That has helped slow the project, he said.
"That has been a source of ongoing concerns for a number of months," Frank said.
The "highly emotionally charged" project caused some polarization between those working on the
project, Frank said.
Greiner disputed the claim that uncooperative residents have caused delays in the project or in
subcontractor payments. He said the district has little control over how contractors handle
subcontractor payments.
"You don’t have a lot of guarantees on that," Greiner said. Several of the subcontractors have
"gentlemen’s agreements" rather than written contracts with the project contractor.
"They all have a handshake with each other," he said.
But the district has heard plenty of complaints about work completed, but no payments made.
"They want to know why they haven’t been paid," he said.
As of last Thursday, the contractor had reached agreements with 10 to 12 of the 14 subcontractors,
Greiner said.
"We’re hopeful to get those claims resolved in quick order," Frank said.
Several of the subcontractors are local, Greiner said, such as Luckey Farmers which supplies fuel for the
job, and Perrysburg Pipe which supplies the sewer pipe. Other subcontractors provide trucking, boring
services and excavation.
This isn’t the first time the district has run into problems with a contractor not paying its
subcontractors in a timely manner.
"The sad part is, this happens with about every project," but not to this extent, Greiner said.
He cited a recent job in Perrysburg, where a similar situation occurred.
"We had to keep intervening to make sure they paid the subcontractors," he said. "They
just keep stretching the payments."
According to Frank, a change order on the project now gives the contractor until mid-January to complete
the sewer line.
"So we are right on schedule," Frank said, stressing that the Stony Ridge job is not a
"troubled project."
Deer Creek, he said, "fully intends to complete this contract."
Greiner said the water and sewer district has never before contracted with Deer Creek Excavating. The
firm bid the job $15,000 lower than the next lowest contractor. The district checked on Deer Creek’s
references, "and they were OK," he said.
However, Greiner said the firm was fairly new and got too busy with other big projects in the state.
Greiner said he was certain the district would never hire Deer Creek again for a construction project.
However, he added that it is sometimes difficult to turn down what may appear to be the "lowest and
best" bid.
"The sad part is, it’s hard not to," accept those bids, he said.