Hold onto the hard hats.
Construction on the county force main project on Holmes Boulevard isn’t slated to finish until April.
But the contractor has agreed to a compromise that should give some peak season relief to business owners.
Manatee County Commissioners unanimously voted Feb. 14 to approve a consent agenda that included a change order authorizing a 72-day
extension to the construction schedule for the force main replacement project on Holmes Beach roadways.
Project manager Brett Gocka told The Islander Feb. 16 the contractor was set to begin work on the southern stretch before getting feedback from local businesses, including the Freckled Fin Irish Pub, 5337 Gulf Drive, about the construction’s potential impact.
Rick Hurst, co-owner of the Freckled Fin, told The Islander Feb. 17 that county construction along Holmes Boulevard and the city center project along Marina and Gulf drives had cost his business “a lot of money.”
Hurst said business “dramatically” improved after Holmes Boulevard was reopened following the initial stages of construction, and even more so when Marina Drive reopened.
But when he heard Spectrum was going to dig up a section of Holmes Boulevard outside the Freckled Fin during peak tourist season — some of the pub’s busiest months — he became concerned.
“It would have done a lot of damage to our business if construction was in front of the Freckled Fin in February and March,” Hurst said.
But the county proved receptive to Hurst’s concerns.
Gocka visited the Freckled Fin to listen to concerns and agreed to have Spectrum focus its work on 58th Street over the next 4-6 weeks.
By the time that work is completed, the spring tourist season mostly will have passed and work on the city center project should have reached substantial completion.
Hurst said the following month of work would be much more tolerable for his business.
“We greatly appreciate them taking the time to come out and meet with us,” Hurst said. “I could tell they had genuine concern for our business and the businesses around us, and when they found a solution that would be better for all the businesses, they rearranged their schedule and made it work.”
He said his only other desire would be for the work to go faster.
Gocka said he understood the work had a negative immediate impact on the area and wanted to minimize that as much as possible.
“It’s an extremely disruptive process. … There are still a few pieces left to complete but we’re trying to make it less of a disturbance to residents as possible and to accommodate the businesses during the busy season,” Gocka said.
The project involves replacing 4,000 feet of 16-inch force main along Holmes Boulevard and 1,100 feet of 8-inch force main with new PVC piping along 58th Street, which are at the end of their useful operational life.
Work also involves replacing water services and upsizing potable water lines along the stretch from 2-inch and 4-inch pipes to 6-inch diameter pipes.
Replacing the aging infrastructure is projected to increase the cost to the county, which owns and operates the force main, $3,618,672.10.
The project was initially projected to end last November but the timeline was delayed multiple times due to Hurricane Ian and then complications with Holmes Beach’s city center construction project.
Gocka said the approved extension mostly makes up for time lost to Hurricane Ian last fall.
He said Spectrum had completed almost all work north of 54th Street as of Feb. 16, other than the installation of the force main along 58th Street.
Spectrum also has yet to install the 16-inch force main along Holmes Boulevard from 54th Street to the south side of Gulf Drive.
People can learn more about the force main replacement project at amiprojects.io.
