HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, fla. — Business owners along South Kings Avenue in Brandon say a months-long construction project left them with significant financial losses. We first told you about this issue back in March. Now construction has wrapped up, but the business owners say it will take them a long time to recover.
Karin Araya owns the Bacon Egg “n” Cheese food truck. He said, “We found out that we’ve lost over $60,000 since these people started construction.”
Other business owners in the area shared similar concerns. Sinti Estrada is the owner of Happy Jalapeño. She said foot traffic dropped drastically during the construction project.
Sinti Estrada said,” We also sell hot food, but we barely had people coming in.”
She said her business is down roughly $40,000. Both Estrada and Ariya said this will take a long time to recover from..
Ariya said,” It’s going to be long-term damage that we have to work hard to get back, but the damage has already been done.”
The work was part of a 26-mile water main project led by Tampa Bay Water, with Garney Construction serving as the contractor.
Business owners say some financial assistance was offered during the project, but they argue it did not come close to covering their losses.
“$800 does not cover even a fraction of the damage,” Ariya said.
We reached out to Garney Construction and Tampa Bay Water about the issue.
Tampa Bay Water said, “Tampa Bay Water and Garney recognize construction can create challenges for local businesses. This is something we take seriously. We are working to ensure businesses are visible, accessible and supported during construction by maintaining access, installing ‘Business Open’ signage and encouraging residents to shop local.
We appreciate the community’s patience and will continue working to ease disruptions while constructing this vital drinking water pipeline.”
Garney Construction said, “Garney is operating within the permit requirements issued by Hillsborough County, as well as Florida State Law, to maintain reasonable access to businesses within the County and State right-of-ways. Our project team is working diligently to minimize impacts to the public and local businesses while constructing this large, complex, and critical infrastructure project to deliver clean drinking water to Hillsborough County residents and businesses.”
In good faith, we did offer the owner a one-time monetary accommodation for an isolated event in which our team recognized that an entryway to the establishment may have been publicly perceived as blocked.
While the roadway is now open, business owners say rebuilding customer foot traffic and recovering lost revenue will take time.
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From Brandon to Plant City and Sun City Center, Keely McCormick is dedicated to helping people who live in East Hillsborough County. If you have concerns about new development, access to needed resources, or the roads in your neighborhood, share your ideas with Keely below.
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