(Updates with details from paragraph 9, in bold)
Paving work that had begun at the Upper Montclair Plaza three months ago, with periods of delay in between, has just been completed, but businesses in the area, though delighted with the improvements, are reeling from thousands of dollars of lost revenue as patrons were kept at bay by the ongoing work.
“Hurray,” said Allin Tallmadge of the Tallmadge Cheese Market. “No one can park by Charlie Brown’s until Saturday due to the lining, but hey, its done.”
Repaving had begun July 20th, with a delay through July and August. Businesses in Upper Montclair said that workers had unearthed a large concrete slab that used to be the apron for a service station, and that this discovery held up the work.
Meanwhile, for Tallmadge, and other shopowners at the center (who declined to speak on the record), the upended parking lot reflected the huge dent in their earnings over the months.
“From July to the first half of September my traffic was cut by 45 to 50% from the same period in 2009,” he said, part of which he attributed to the lackluster economy.
“However, I had people come up to me and tell me they hadn’t been in because they thought we were closed because of the construction or it was too hard to park or they didn’t know how safe it was to drive in. My average weekly lost revenue was $1500.”
Tallmadge said he had asked the Montclair Parking Authority to help him recover from the lost business by taking out ads in local media to promote the Plaza and its shops.
“I feel it’s the least that can be done to redress the damage that’s been caused,” he said.
Tallmadge contacted Baristanet later in the day to say that Councilman Richard Murnick and Montclair Parking Authority Director Jon Tuebner had met with met with Warren Ross, the landlord of five Plaza businesses, on Friday.
“The MPA has agreed to ads in Montclair Times and Montclair Magazine. At the moment they are uncommitted on Baristanet and Suburban Essex,” Tallmadge said.
“They have also committed to erecting signs on Valley Rd and Bellevue Ave directing people to shops on the Plaza. This has to go through process and may take a while. They have to be designed and approved before they can be installed but it will happen.”
Another business owner who declined to be named said, “It has been discouraging these few months to have this work on top of the already existing economic woes. The work was supposed to have taken 4 weeks, but it’s been 3 months.”
He, too, had lost money but didn’t disclose how much.
Tallmadge was grateful to Murnick for stepping in and making things happen.
Officials at the parking authority weren’t available for comment.
I did some shopping during this time, and managed to navigate through the construction. I never once saw a sign that said “We are open during construction” something that many stores do during street repair. Something to think about next time you are scratching your head for three months
How much do we pay in salaries to the Parking Authority? And they owe the town $800k? And they can’t comment on this? Let’smget rid of them.
Many have lost money and time, but who are for it? Who that is, until this matter? Just next time things should be different!
Thanks, Martha, Job Search Expert from resignation letter sample