Businesses complete tornado repairs
Published 10:14 pm Thursday, July 11, 2019
Two businesses that sustained damage as a result of June’s tornado have made their repairs with the help of façade grant money, and another will receive the same grant to make its repairs.
Economic Development Manager Deanna Holt told the Economic Development Authority at its Wednesday meeting that Harbour Veterinary Office and Suffolk Iron Works had completed repairs to their structures.
Harbour Veterinary Office, which has since changed its name to Tidewater Animal Clinic, received $5,000 in EDA façade grant money to offset the $10,400 cost to replace windows, its front door and repair its roof.
She noted that the grant money “was not considered for the loss of any of the sales or any of the services that the business lost.”
Holt said pet owners had to take their animals to other veterinarians on the days the business was closed due to the storm damage. The business, she said, also had to spend many hours dealing with its insurance company on other issues that needed to be fixed.
The owners also had to cancel their vacation due to the storm, Holt said, while having to pay extra to employees who had to work to get the business ready to reopen.
“They’ve done a really good job,” Holt said. “Everything has been completed for this business.”
Suffolk Iron Works also received a $5,000 grant to offset its $18,111 cost to repair its parapet wall and cap, replace its skylight and fix its roof. She said the business did not use any insurance money to make its repairs, and paid for those itself. The repairs, she said, are complete.
“The grant has really helped each of the businesses,” Holt said.
Also, the EDA unanimously approved a $5,000 grant for Washland Laundromat and Boost Mobile to help pay for $11,913.12 in repairs to replace windows, repair the roofs and replace fencing. Holt said initially that the tornado blew out two windows at Boost Mobile. But after a review of its damage, it learned that the other windows had chips and cracks due to sand and gravel hitting those windows, forcing the business to have to replace all of them.
Holt said roof repairs have been ongoing for about the last two weeks.
Businesses affected by the tornado still have until the end of August to apply for a façade grant to help with repairs. Holt said she has not received any paperwork from the owner of the Domino’s at 540 E. Constance Road, but she has heard back from General Rentals at 544 E. Constance Road and Suffolk Auto Body at 900 Portsmouth Blvd.
She said she has received paperwork from General Rentals with its estimates, but no repair work has been done on its building yet.
Suffolk Auto Body, meanwhile, has completed about half of its repairs and is waiting on a couple of materials to be delivered to finish repairs on its building.
“Once the remainder of the project has been complete, they will be at 100 percent and we can go out and approve the final grant for that,” Holt said.