To the editor:

I could not be happier for Saranac Lake to have won the $10 million grant from New York state. But while new money will be put into worthwhile enterprises, the arts and our public spaces, what is happening to the businesses on Woodruff Street as they have to deal with the fallout from the unfinished sewer line project? Riverside Pet Supplies co-owner Don Schmidt recently reported to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that his business was down 25 percent since the project started, and now no one is giving him any information on why it has stopped or when it will be finished.

As a former business owner on Main Street, I can attest to the difficulty in running a successful retail business in this town under the best of circumstances. The current circumstances on that part of Woodruff Street are certainly not the best. The bridge is open, but it is difficult to navigate the dirt part of it, and Riverside’s parking lot is barely that, no matter how hard they have tried to accommodate the construction. I would suggest that the other businesses across the river, with part of their parking lot torn up and blocked off, may also be experiencing a drop in business. Mr. Schmidt and the other business owners in that area deserve some answers from the village, now, as to when and how this project will be completed and when the mess will be cleaned up.

How and whether Mr. Schmidt will be able to make up these losses is anyone’s guess. He is a longtime business owner and supporter of the community. He and the others deserve much better than they have been given.

Thank you.

Gail Meyer

Saranac Lake