Sewer Work A Drain On Merchants Sandpoint Project Digs Into Holiday Season
The holiday shopping rush has gone down the toilet for Sandpoint’s downtown merchants, thanks to a sewer construction project.
About 4,000 feet of sewer line is being rebuilt in the downtown core. The project was supposed to be finished by Thanksgiving. It’s now expected to be done after Christmas, and business owners are fuming about the delay and mess.
Construction has blocked the precious few parking spaces, created a one-lane traffic jam through downtown and forced some businesses without a usable bathroom to close for a day.
“It’s pathetic. The town looks like it’s shutdown. They may as well put up a sign: Construction zone, come back after the holidays,” said Ben Tate, who owns the Finan-McDonald clothing store.
“The fact the city could do this is beyond me. A lot of us make it or break it over the holidays. This is the worst possible time to do this.”
Angry merchants have flooded City Hall with complaints. A group of merchants met with Mayor David Sawyer Wednesday and asked that the project be stopped and restarted after the holidays.
Sawyer agreed, saying the delay will cost the city another $2,000 but it’s worth it.
“We are really creating too much havoc. Downtown business owners have come together to plan a positive Christmas season and sadly this has been a sour note,” Sawyer said.
The construction company will pull out Friday and the city will offer free parking in its downtown lot the rest of the month.
Some merchants say sales are off as much as 30 percent because of the construction. While shoppers struggle for a place to park, downtown employees are out hunting for a usable bathroom since no portable restrooms were provided.
“It’s very frustrating for shoppers and it’s forcing them to go elsewhere,” said Whistle Stop Cafe owner John Klager. He closed his cafe one day because of the repairs.
“A restaurant that can’t wash dishes” or have a place where patrons can go to the bathroom “is no fun,” he said. “Many business like clothing and jewelry stores depend heavily on the Christmas season and they are not having one.”
The health department even shut down a couple of restaurants that have tried to stay open.
“The health man came over and said if we can’t use our sewer or drains to shut down now,” said Bob Walli at PJ’s Bar and Grill. “What are you going to do? This project has to be done.”
City officials have been sympathetic and admit the project turned into a nightmare before Christmas. For two weeks, Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk has fielded complaints.
“People are griping and rightly so,” Van Dyk said. “This is taking longer than we were led to believe. We had no intention of creating havoc at Christmas shopping time.”
The city initially awarded the bid for the $370,000 job to a company that was doing work in Spokane. A firm from Colorado, Western Slope Utilities, actually was the low bidder and threatened to sue if it was not hired. The city reconsidered and gave Western Slope the contract.
The job was supposed to start in mid-October. Van Dyk said the company didn’t arrive until November. Equipment breakdowns and piles of snow further delayed the job.
“I think everyone downtown agrees this needs to be done, just not now. There were better times to do this and our intention was to be done by Thanksgiving or do it after Christmas,” Van Dyk said.
The 90-year-old sewer is collapsing and is nearly blocked in some places. The repair job is high-tech. It involves installing a new liner in the sewer rather than digging up the entire street and replacing pipes.
Digging up the street during the summer tourist season would have been even worse, Van Dyk said.
“What we’ve learned is to write in every contract that work shall not be done on downtown streets from Thanksgiving to Jan. 1,” he said.
, DataTimes