By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
Over a dozen business-owners and others affected by the Centennial Drive North upgrade project attended the Martensville City Council committee of the whole meeting July 7 to voice their anger over the lack of communication prior to the start of construction, which they say has greatly affected their bottom line by affecting accessibility.
As outlined on the City of Martensville’s website, Phase 1 of the Centennial Drive North upgrade project began on May 22. The project entails replacing aging infrastructure, installing new storm drainage and generally improving accessibility for motorists and pedestrians.
As part of the project, the entirety of the road from 3rd Street North to approximately the 500 block was closed to traffic on June 2, though a temporary access route was opened to help maintain access to businesses along Centennial Drive.
Additional grading has been carried out along the access route, which is located east of the project, to address rutting and potholes. The entire project is slated to continue until at least September 1, depending on weather.
At the July 7 meeting of the whole, the main speaker was Trent Ens, who owns and operates Smokehaus Meats alongside his wife Tanya.
Ens said they first became aware of the road closure when one of their staff members asked Tanya if she was going to lose her job or if they would stay open once the construction began.
The employee then showed Tanya a May 15 post on the City of Martensville’s Facebook page announcing the closure.
On May 20, after reaching out to the city, Trent said they met with Economic Development Manager Dillon Shewchuk and he informed them that the road would be closing at the start of June for the entire summer.
He went on to describe a contentious meeting with city administration and a difficult few weeks in June where they received numerous calls asking if they were still open, with the situation being muddled further by confusing signage.
Ens acknowledged that they have lots of loyal customers, but a retail business like theirs still relies on access.
“The amount of exceedingly loyal retail customers we have that will not shop somewhere else is 60 per cent. That means we are losing 40 per cent. That’s what the loss is going to be for July and August. July and August are two of the four most important months of the year for us,” he said.
Had they known about the closure well in advance, Ens indicated several ways they could have better prepared, such as booking more animals at the processing plant north of Martensville and placing one of their butchers there.
“That’s impossible now; that work gets booked months in advance,” Ens said.
He noted they could have also set up some wholesale accounts, something they are frequently asked about but generally avoid.
“If we would have known about this closure, we could have done some wholesale,” he said. “That’s too late now; by the time we get it set up, it would be too late.
Ens recalled a meeting he had a decade ago with the previous mayor of Martensville about shutting down Centennial Drive for one Saturday during the summer in order to hold a car show.
Not wanting to hinder a community event, Ens said he was fine with the street being closed, though he wanted his feedback considered for the following year if the shutdown significantly hurt his business.
“This is what happened back then when the city was wanting to close the street for … part of one Saturday. We got notified ahead of time, we got asked for our opinion, and there was a follow-up to see how it went,” he said.
“The fact that this can happen indicates that there is a problem with the way that the administration is dealing with business. The administration answers to you as city council; your job is to look after them and to make sure that runs all right. I would like council to … to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again and to make sure the communication is better.”
Martensville Building & Home Supply owner Anthony Nienhuis also spoke briefly at the meeting, suggesting that the fundamental problem was a lack of accountability at the top and issues with communication between council and administration.
“I think business is here about progress. We want the city to get better. We want the city to look better and (the Centennial Drive) project is going to do that. But the treatment of business like what happened in this case … come on,” he said.
“I think you just need to ask yourselves, ‘How are you going to be accountable’?’ If it’s a voting thing, you better believe that we’re going to get you voted out. Because this is not the way this city needs to run. It starts at the top, and then it goes down.”
Mayor Kent Muench thanked those in attendance for coming, adding that he appreciated their comments and the passion put into them.
Councillor Spencer Nikkel suggested that a few councillors had raised concerns about maintaining access for local businesses and this project was tendered out before they got that information.
He suggested that this was something he was taking personally, adding, “It has actually kept me up at night the last month, because it’s bothering me a lot. And I understand how much it impacts retail.”
However, Nienhuis pushed back at Nikkel’s comments, suggesting that he had basically “torpedoed” city staff by trying to shift the blame.
“There’s a disconnect, but the disconnect starts with you guys. Don’t play the blame game. Accept it and deal with it,” he said.