Louise Cardinal, owner of Le Rendez-Vous bar in Les Coteaux, is exasperated by the slow pace of major construction work in front of her business, and is asking for compensation for loss of income. With water cut off, no access to her business and suppliers refusing to make deliveries, she's been dealing with this for the past eight weeks. 

On Monday October 16, the entrepreneur appeared before the Les Coteaux town council to explain her situation to the elected representatives.

Loss of more than half her income 

In a telephone interview with Néomédia, the lady was frank, admitting that since work began eight weeks ago, she has lost 60% of her income. 

"Since the work began, we've had to deal with closed streets and detours from one end of Sauvé Street to the other. It's hellish. I had to close my business from October 2 to 12 because I had no access to my business or to my parking lot on the side. There was a 20-foot hole, if not more, in the front. I was forced to stop my business because there was a fence two feet from my steps that wasn't too solid, with holes in it. I have customers of all ages. In the afternoon, I have elderly people who come in for a coffee, a liqueur, they come in to play cards. It was downright dangerous," she laments, adding that she doesn't want to risk the lives and safety of her employees and customers to make money. 

She points out that her business was without water for three days because of the construction site. "I understand that it's major work, but when you have customers going to the toilet and you don't have water, you have to carry boilers of water and that's not pleasant. Washing dishes without water is also very unpleasant. Another example of what we go through on a daily basis. On Wednesdays, I host a dart league where the average age of the members is 65, and we had to cancel because the road isn't passable and people aren't interested in parking in the surrounding streets and walking 10 minutes to get to the business. Not to mention the risk of seriously damaging one's car," she says. 

During her speech, she also mentioned that she had made a written complaint to the Municipality, but had received no response a week later. "I had the impression on Monday evening that I had learned some information from the municipal council and the mayor about situations that had arisen in connection with the work. It seems to me that if I were the mayor and heard such things, I'd go and have a look at the site first thing the next morning, or talk to the person in charge of the works. As far as I'm concerned, it's being done badly and badly managed, but the municipality is hiding behind the contractor," she adds. 

A poorly organized site

For the shopkeeper, the worksite, originally scheduled to last two months, was poorly planned.  At the town council meeting, she didn't mince her words about the municipal administration. "I don't know where you got your engineers, but the plans didn't conform. When they arrived to do the work, nothing worked. Then we had to do a water test. It took three weeks to get the results. In the meantime, the work wasn't going ahead," she explained. 

She adds. "The signage put in place between rue Royale and the railway a few weeks ago was dangerous. Traffic lights were installed, but everything was poorly thought out. There have been problems since the start of the works. The Council always replies that it's the contractor's fault, but he has to follow the Municipality's instructions. Nothing is done by the book. We're lucky there wasn't a fire. What if the fire truck can't get through? Or if a customer in my bar needed medical assistance? We'd look pretty thin," she says.  

She points out that even her beer supplier refuses to come to the business because of road conditions and the risk of damaging his truck. "A bar without beer doesn't last long. Nobody wants to take the risk of coming here. Imagine people from out of town who don't know the area and end up here in this construction site. It can seriously damage their cars." 

Compensation for shopkeepers? 

Ms. Cardinal's presence at Monday's regular meeting of the Coteaux municipal council was to request compensation on behalf of herself and the other merchants affected by the work. "That's what I asked for in my written complaint to the City, but I'm told that this is major work and that there's nothing in the works for the merchants. They're answering me as if I were an idiot." 

The mayor of Les Coteaux, Sylvain Brazeau, was categorical on Monday in responding to Ms. Cardinal. No financial compensation is planned for Sauvé Street merchants. 

"I've been hearing stories like this for three months, but this is the first time I've heard of someone not having water for 3 days. The city council gives directions to the municipal administration so that work can be done. We don't go to the site every day.Several facts don't help.For example, the fact that Sauvé Street is a main artery.I understand it's difficult," he said. 

However, he was open to discussing the possibility of offering monetary compensation with the council."We can discuss it eventually. It's true that it's not done under optimal conditions.He's going to be fined, and we're putting pressure on him. It's obvious that things aren't going the way we'd like them to.Nobody here likes the situation," he concluded. 

For the moment, no date has been set for completion of the work, which worries Louise Cardinal."Will the street be paved before the snow arrives, or will we spend the winter like this?Right now, there's no asphalt and we want to pave the two sections of Sauvé when they're finished, which is normal.But the job was supposed to last two months and finish on September 20. We're a long way from that," she concludes.