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Politics & Government

Merchants Plea For Work Delay, But Council Majority Approves First Street Project Bid

Some owners fear their businesses won't make it through sustained downtown construction.

Downtown merchants pleaded with the Los Altos City Council Tuesday night for relief from First Street construction, for fear some of them would lose their businesses all together.

The council was voting on Item No. 8, which might look innocuous to a casual reader of City Council agendas: A recommendation to award a contract "to Robert A. Bothman Inc. for $1,484,320 and authorize the city manager to execute a contract on behalf of the city First Street Streetscape Phase 1A."

The audience reaction was sometimes emotional.

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“It’s been rough; this is my livelihood,” Erin Paruszewski told the council with tears in her eyes and a quiver in her voice. Paruszewski owns a workout studio called The Dailey Method at 249 First St.  

“I fear we’re going to be one of those businesses that’s not going to make it."

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Already over budget and past schedule, the council voted 3-2 to move forward with more construction this summer, severely disappointing several downtown small business owners who have been buffeted first by the economic downturn and then by construction work that has gone on well past projections.

The city has torn up streets to place utilities underground and opened up intersections for weeks at a time for a beautification project, all slowed by poor weather that has  extended completion dates.

The disruption forced the Kiwanis to postpone the beloved Kiwanis Pet Parade from its usual May step-off date to Oct. 8, when staff calculates work will be completed. For those who have seen some of the original completion dates coming from City Hall, however, that's little comfort.

Paruszewski said that during the most recent infrastructural construction that’s been going on since winter, she’s had clients driven away by a lack of parking and access to the studio, along with constant dust and jackhammering. 

Another businessman, Khatchig Jingirian Jr. of at 350 Main St., said he’s experienced as much as a 60-75 percent decrease in business during some of the months since construction started.

Several owners asked that the city delay until January 2012 the start of the first phase of streetscaping work along First Street and at the intersection of First and Main streets.

would add new sidewalks, decorative elements and landscaping, designed to lure more shoppers and pedestrians downtown. It also includes new signals synchronized with the signals at Main and Foothill Expressway, among other improvements, according to the city's project manager, Dave Brees.

The worry was that construction–which would include shutting down First Street between Main and State for large chunks of time—would cut into the holiday shopping season, which Jingirian told council starts Sept. 1.

According to city staff, the construction would start in July and could end mid-October, although delays could push back the end into November.

Despite their pleas, Mayor Ron Packard and Councilmen David Casas and Jarrett Fishpaw voted to approve a contract bid for work to start July 11, the day after the huge Art and Wine Festival. Their main concern was that if they pushed the work back to winter, the project would face weather delays—making even more headaches for businesses and shoppers—and possibly cost the city more in reopening the bidding process at a later date.

“I think ripping off a Band-Aid hurts no matter what time of year it is,” Fishpaw said. “I’m not convinced that given another time it would actually be of less consequence to the businesses.”

The latest infrastructure project has experienced several disappointing and unexpected delays because of rainy weather and the discovery of underground pipes not on the original maps that had to be relocated.

“How much more can our downtown and our merchants stand?” Councilwoman Val Carpenter asked. She voted against the bid, in part because of timing with holiday shopping.

The weather delays and pipe relocations have pushed up the cost of the project, as well. The total project will cost approximately $800,000 more than the expected $2.1 million, staff members said.

For Councilwoman Megan Satterlee, it was the overruns that were troublesome. She said she could not support the project until her questions about the finances were answered. She also objected to the proposed street closure.

In approving the bid for the first phase, the council said it wanted staff to investigate whether the city could offer incentives for completing the project earlier. Penalties for delays are already built into the contract.

The council also said it was willing to work with the Los Altos Village Association to send out a mailer to educate residents about the construction, at the city’s expense.

It was at times a tense meeting, with at one point a burst of sharp applause followed by Packard's equally sharp rap of the gavel—uncharacteristic for a Los Altos Council meeting—after one speaker chastised the city for not being more sensitive to merchants' concerns.

Later several audience members burst into sarcastic laughter, after Packard suggested landlords reduce rents temporarily during construction, as a way of providing relief for shop owners.

"Aw, jeeze! Come on!," one person exclaimed.

"Here you talk about collaboration with property owners, and we have some property owners here, and when it comes to them sacrificing, all I get from them is a big laugh," Packard responded. "And I find that rather unfortunate."

In a related First Street story, the council also approved a Mediterranean-style, three-story 20-unit condominium project at 396 First St., the site of the Adobe Animal Hospital. The building includes two below-market-rate units and a 36-space underground parking garage.

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