Town administration will be providing council a report on a tax reduction request for businesses impacted by two seasons of road construction on Centre Ave.
CMS Real Estate made the request on behalf of over 20 tenants of 118 1st Ave. W., (Sheridan Mall) due to extensive disruptions in business.
In its letter, the landlord compiled information provided by tenants of the hardships they faced. An art studio reported art classes were down 70 per cent, retail sales were down as much as 75 per cent, and sales of a liquor store in the complex were down by 60 per cent, with the company having to subsidize their operational costs by as much as $126,000.
A laundry service was totally interrupted for a full three-days. Water and gas connections were disrupted with short notice to the tenants and none to the landlord.
CMS Real Estate Ltd. say it, too, has been impacted.
"Although, the landlord is appreciative of the conditions that the construction workers have finished off the roadway, there is still some issues with access and possibly further compaction of the paving repairs," states the letter. "However, it has been very difficult to obtain tenants in some of the vacant units due to the conditions of the roadway and parking areas. The leasing realtor has worked diligently to try to retain the tenants that we have and show vacant units around all the roadway disruptions."
Council agreed unanimously to explore the matter, with Councillor Morgan Nagel speaking the strongest on the matter.
"I do have an appetite to try and compensate some of the businesses when somethings happened with our construction. Two summers ago, in particular, I felt very bad about the way circumstances played out for some of the businesses that were completely isolated."
Mayor Jeff Genung believes this is a good time to outline the factors that caused the delays.
He also believes the town should consult with other municipalities facing similar situations.
"The entire community has been impacted by construction, so where do we start to draw the line on reimbursement or offsetting of costs? I think if we were to tell the story of what that construction program looked like, we might have a different understanding of what, if any, remediation we would make."
Councillor Reed believes the definition of liability needs to be explored and it should be determined if the town has any insurance that could cover costs should tax relief or compensation be provided.
No timeline was provided on when the report is expected to be in the hands of council.