News Photo by Steve Schulwitz A car drives through the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Chisholm Street in Alpena on Sunday. The intersection is stained with paint, which has caused damage to some people’s cars. City officials are awaiting guidance from the Michigan Department of Transportation on whether to remove the paint or let it be.

ALPENA — Alpena city officials are waiting to hear from the Michigan Department of Transportation on how or if the city can clean up a paint spill in downtown Alpena.

The spill left a large yellow blemish at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Chisholm Street and has caused damage to people’s cars who drove through the mess before it dried.

The paint, which was spilled by a contractor not working for the city, happened several weeks ago and caused long yellow tire tracks to extend in both directions from the intersection because of the paint getting on the tires of vehicles passing through.

There is also a large paint splatter due to the impact of the paint bucket on the hard surface.

Alpena City Manager Rachel Smolinski said that, as people began to notice the yellow paint on their vehicles, they began to contact the city, wanting the city to pay for repairs. She said that, because the contractor who spilled the paint was not working for the city, the city is not liable for the damaged automobiles.

Smolinski said the damage is unfortunate and urged people to reach out to their insurance companies to get their vehicles fixed.

“We started getting calls the same day, and it is an unfortunate situation,” she said. “We’re sorry for any inconvenience or any damage to anyone’s car, but people are going to have to go through their own insurance.”

The paint hasn’t faded much since it was spilled and it is unknown if or when it will be removed from the roadway.

Smolinski said the city has not addressed the mess because 2nd Avenue is considered part of M-32 and a part of the state trunkline. Because of that, she said, MDOT will determine what the cleanup measure will be, or if it will be left as-is.

Removing the paint and cleaning the mess is a large job, Smolinski said, but she added the city would like to see the intersection returned to normal because it takes away from the beauty of downtown with all of its flowers, trees, and parks.

“I think it looks sloppy, and I hope we can clean it up, but that is not up to us,” she said. “That type of paint is made to adhere to the road and we would likely have to grind the road down to remove it. Addressing it is something we get permission from MDOT to do.”

Smolinski said she did not want to reveal the name of the contractor that spilled the paint, because she believes it was an accident and she did not want to unjustly or unintentionally do damage to the business’s reputation.

“This is not something they meant to do,” Smolinski said. “I’m just not comfortable pointing fingers at them or throwing them under the bus when it was an accident and the city was not directly involved.”