From left, Dave Fox of CB FOX, David Jolly of Metzgers, County Councilor David Israelevitz, County Administrator Harry Burgess, Economic Vitality Administrator Greg Fisher and Public Works Director Philo Shelton met Friday in the County Administrator’s Conference Room to discuss upcoming road construction projects and what can be learned from the recent Central Avenue Improvements Project. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com

Los Alamos business leaders Dave Fox of CB FOX and David Jolly of Metzgers met Friday morning with Los Alamos County Councilor David Izraelevitz and Los Alamos County Administrator Harry Burgess, Public Works Director Philo Shelton, Economic Vitality Administrator Greg Fisher and Marketing Specialist Kelly Stewart.

Izraelevitz explained that he organized the meeting to begin the process of planning for upcoming road construction on 20^th Street between Central Avenue and Trinity Drive and the new roundabout at Trinity Drive near DP Road.

“I wanted to get feedback and exchange information with local business people on how best to move forward,” Izraelevitz said.

Jolly said he thought the construction on Diamond Drive a few years ago was better organized to lessen the impact on businesses than the recent Central Avenue project.

“The actual names of the businesses were on the signage, which helped people know where to go to get to the businesses,” he said, adding that weekly public meetings also were held so stakeholders could keep updated on the project.

Fox expressed his dissatisfaction with the process surrounding the Central Avenue Improvements Project.

“I’m still profoundly angry,” Fox said. “What you did to us was terrible. It took away our summer tourist business. Your understanding of how fragile the balance is between profit and loss is not adequate.”

Fox said the store is still trying to recover from the impact of the construction on his business during the summer. He suggested developing a best engineering practice guide, which would include outreach to the public and to businesses affected by construction projects. Fox said a daily log of what happens during a project should be kept and used to formulate best practices.

“The County Council needs to sign off on it,” he said.

Shelton noted that frost needs to be out of the ground before digging and the pouring of concrete can commence, so at least some of the summer months need to be utilized for road construction. He said renovation of the Community Building on 20^th Street to house the new Teen Center also will be taking place soon, although timelines have not yet been worked out.

“This is the beginning of the process,” Israelevitz said. “We will have to balance the different constituents’ needs. It’s obviously going to have negative impacts that need to be managed.”

The contractor on the Central Avenue project never communicated with business owners, Jolly said. He and Fox stressed the importance of prioritizing communication to business owners. Fox said keeping at least part of the street open and providing some form of pedestrian access should be important goals for the upcoming projects.

Israelevitz said he thought the meeting was productive and provided some good ideas to County staff and for the County Council. More meetings with business people will take place to keep the lines of communication open, he said.