PORT ANGELES — Over four dozen downtown merchants are objecting to plans to conduct a nearly three-month construction project on First Street during business hours.
Fifty-three business owners have signed a petition urging Port Angeles City Hall to have a new stormwater pipe installed between Valley and Laurel streets on First Street at night rather than during the day. Work is expected to begin March 1.
Last Wednesday, at a hastily scheduled meeting with city staff, a few members of the Port Angeles Downtown Association gave the go-ahead for construction to occur during the day in order to get it done a month sooner.
Ten of the downtown association’s 175 members attended the meeting; one voiced opposition to the schedule.
Barb Frederick, association executive director, said last week she thought the daylight work would be a good trade-off for downtown since it would keep construction from occurring after Memorial Day (May 30), when tourism starts to pick up.
In response to the petition and criticism that the meeting was held on short notice, the downtown association has requested another meeting with the city to allow additional input from its members.
Glenn Cutler, city public works and utilities director, said he will talk with other city staff members Monday about scheduling a meeting with downtown merchants this week.
“I’m always willing to meet with the downtown association and get their input,” he said.
Cutler said he wasn’t sure whether it’s too late to change the schedule for a second time.
The city had initially planned to have the work — which will mainly involve tearing up the south lane of the road between Valley and Laurel streets — from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in order to lessen the impact on downtown commerce and traffic.
But working at night would mean that the project would not end until late June.
Cutler said the city’s contractor, Road Construction Northwest Inc., told the city Tuesday it could be done by Memorial Day if its employees worked from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. They will work five days a week.
Don Zeller, who organized the petition drive, said few merchants got the meeting notification soon enough to attend the Wednesday meeting.
An e-mail notifying members of the 8 a.m. meeting was sent at 12:14 p.m. Tuesday.
Cutler said the meeting was held then because city staff members had a meeting with the contractor later that day and needed to be able to give direction to the company, which plans to start mobilizing equipment shortly.
Association President Greg Voyles said in a voice mail message Saturday that he has requested another meeting. He couldn’t be reached for further comment.
Frederick didn’t return a request for comment.
Zeller, who owns Zeller’s Antiques on First Street, said he would rather have the work last another month if it meant it would not occur during business hours.
“This is the time of the year we’re trying to grow and get ahead because we made it through the winter,” he said.
“You might as well bar our front doors and not let anybody in.”
Petition signers who could be reached Saturday said they share Zeller’s concerns.
While the city plans to launch a public outreach campaign to let people know that sidewalks and businesses will remain open, petition signers said they are concerned that not enough can be done.
“We don’t need any deterrent for people coming downtown,” said Lyn Fauth, who owns Tiger Lily Clothing.
Fauth said she didn’t get the e-mail in time but would have liked to have attended the meeting.
“If I had another day’s notice, you bet,” she said.
“The fact is, we need 24 hours to plan our lives.”
Rudy Hiener of Bay Variety said the project could be the “final blow” for some businesses.
His daughter, Michele Adolphsen, who owns the business, signed the petition. Hiener said she got the e-mail before the meeting, but was still unable to attend.
“We’re not looking forward to the disruption during the day,” he said.
City spokeswoman Teresa Pierce said the city has tried to keep the downtown association involved in the project.
“We’ve met with them [the downtown association] four or five times over the last several months to keep them updated on the project,” she said.
Pierce added, “We’re going to be trying to find ways to promote the downtown to assure people and the public that the downtown is open when construction is going on.”
The construction and construction management contracts for the project total about $1.3 million.
The National Park Service is covering that cost because the project is part of its Elwha River restoration effort.
The First Street project is intended to remove enough stormwater from the city’s sewer system to offset the contribution of sewage from the Lower Elwha Klallam reservation.
The tribe will be connected to the city’s sewers because it’s expected that its septic tanks will become unusable as the ground water level rises as a result of dam removal.
In order to not add to the city’s sewage overflow problem, the park service agreed to fund a stormwater disconnect project to offset the impact.
The city is contributing $225,000 to the project to pave both lanes of the road, add bike lanes and replace crosswalks.
To receive e-mail updates for the project, e-mail Pierce at Tpierce@cityofpa.us.
A project website has been launched at www.cityofpa.us/FIRSTSTREETSTORMWATER.htm.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
