Marques Campbell said he’s not complaining.
It’s wonderful that his road, Owsley Street, the section between Meek and Wheeler Streets, has been paved and widened, he said. The project has made the street more maneuverable and will cut down on dust – Owsley was a dirt road – and leaves, since several trees had to be cut down as part of the project, Campbell said.
“They did a wonderful job,” Campbell said of contractors Foust Contracting of Girard and Lindy Paving, New Castle.
But, Campbell said he thought Owsley was a private road, meaning residents would be responsible for its upkeep.
“I’d like to know what the politics are,” Campbell said.
This section of Owsley is not a private road, said township Road Superintendent Jaime Fredenburg. Although it had not been paved before, it had been accepted, meaning the township is responsible for its upkeep, he said.
“We’ve looked at this road for a lot of years,” Fredenburg said.
Several factors converged to make the project possible: Community Development Block Grant money was available from Trumbull County; Census data showed the neighborhood meets the low-and moderate-income guidelines required for CDBG eligibility; and the size of the project fell within the $50,000 to $100,000 range that made it attractive to county officials, Fredenburg said.
Foust ended up getting the contract from the county for $80,324, a figure made possible after the township agreed to pay for cutting down the trees and adjusted the proposed blacktop thickness and drainage requirements to bring down an engineer’s estimate that had topped $100,000.
Campbell, who filmed some of the work on his cellphone, said he still thinks it’s illogical that Owsley could be chosen for such a project, but added, “I’m not complaining.”