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UPDATE: City denies downtowners' request for reimbursement
Petitioners say beautification project cost them money
By BRENDA BROWN
knhedit@kilgorenewsherald.com
Citing case law and the city’s efforts to make downtown renovations as painless as possible for merchants, the city council Tuesday night voted unanimously to deny a petition for restitution for alleged financial loss due to construction.
Even before Rob Schleier, the city’s attorney, gave his legal opinion regarding the matter, Mayor Joe Parker expressed his disappointment that the petition was ever begun.
“First, I want to thank those who didn’t sign this petition, and I’m disappointed we received this petition because the council has bent over backwards,” Parker said.
He noted the city has spent taxpayer dollars to fund the nearly $2 million facelift, and paid for entertainment to draw people downtown, Christmas lighting and “orange barrel” advertising to keep citizens informed.
“Besides that, the economy is slow. I’ve been twiddling my thumbs and doing crosswords for the last three weeks at my own business,” said Parker, who owns an upholstery shop.
Schleier said the city “can’t just give taxpayer dollars away” except in limited cases and this case isn’t one.
He cited a 1990 Texas Supreme Court case that states there is “no relief” due when there is “ultimate improvement.”
Twenty-one merchants signed the petition presented by Doyle Turner, pastor of The Dove’s Nest nondenominational church and owner of The Dove’s Kitchen, both located at 215 E. Main.
Turner did not speak at the council meeting but Wednesday morning he said he would describe the action as “a discouragement but it was expected.”
He said he thought the council was “rude” in the way members handled the petition denial.
“They said they felt like they were slapped in the face, but we felt like they slapped us in the face,” Turner said.
He said he had contacted a couple of the petition signers and planned to contact all of them in order to decide whether to file a civil suit against the city.
He said The Dove’s Kitchen is a fundraiser he opened 15 months ago for the four-year-old church but he closed the restaurant portion for three months during the construction. He said the kitchen reopened almost three weeks ago.
Turner said he acted as spokesman for the group because business owners had come to him to draw up the petition for restitution.
“We’re on hold,” Turner said, adding, “I’m not sure some of them can stay in business until the end of the month.”
Councilmen Ronnie Spradlin and Randy Renshaw said their businesses were also suffering due to the recession but said the economic downturn had affected businesses downtown and all across the city.
Renshaw said he makes an effort to shop and eat downtown because he enjoys doing business there, despite parking inconveniences and temporary bridges and sidewalks.
“If you really want to go to a certain store to buy something or to eat, you will do it. I can’t believe Americans are so lazy we can’t walk two blocks,” Renshaw said. “If I want to go to a particular place to eat, I will make an effort to do that.”
He added that when renovations are complete in about one more month, “You will be so proud. Downtown will flourish. The oil business will get better.”
Renshaw, a Realtor, said he knows of only two downtown locations that are vacant and one could be leased tomorrow and the other is in no shape for occupancy at this time.
“I know other downtowns that have lots of vacancies,” he said.
Councilman Harvey McClendon said he fely sympathy for downtown businesses but the city was investing a lot of money in the area and it would not be legal to give taxpayer money as gifts or reparation. He also noted the council could have charged merchants for the sidewalk construction as that area belongs to the building owners and not the city.
PRIOR TO the council’s petition vote, members heard from the contractor in charge of the renovations.
Todd Williams, owner of TCMC in Tyler, said the work was on schedule before the recent rains and that his crews would work nights and weekends to get the job done ahead of the Dec. 1 deadline.
With good weather, Williams said he planned to have the project “substantially completed” by Nov. 12 so the city can hang holiday lights on the new street lamps before the Nov. 19 “Holiday in the Patch” Christmas lighting program.
Once the rainwater dries, Williams said crews will finish concrete work and should hopefully finish “all the hard surfaces” on Nov. 2, prior to the Oilmen’s Chili Cookoff on Nov. 5. Installing sidewalk pavers in various areas will take another three days.
Landscaping work will begin on Nov. 2 and take about seven days. On the same day, they will begin installing the decorative street lamps. Workers will begin installing benches and trash receptacles on Nov. 9.
The schedule depends on weather, to which Councilman Renshaw remarked, “There’s nothing you can do about the weather, folks.”
Williams and Tim Hobbs, street department director, noted there had been unforeseen problems once the work began on East Main Street, causing them to change the order in which work was done. The conflicts included “a Verizon duct that was not where it was supposed to be,” and waiting on the telephone company to do its work; antique gasoline tanks discovered underneath the street; and storm drain and sanitary sewer line problems.
Wednesday, Turner said the merchants were upset because the construction plan as outlined before work began did not go as outlined.
“Our gripe is not about the work. They didn’t follow the (construction) plan,” Turner said. “I know they’ve made a lot of excuses, but one of the contractors said the city was the problem because they couldn’t get done what needed to be done.”
Councilman Janice Hancock requested that TCMC crews double-check the temporary bridges and sidewalks because some have deteriorated. She also suggested that construction crews, when possible, park outside the downtown area and walk to the work site in order to keep parking spaces open for customers.
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