Contractor faces $2,000 in daily fines for unfinished West Allis work

By: Brendan Cullerton

Posted: Nov 26, 2018 3:10 PM CDT

NOW: Contractor faces $2,000 in daily fines for unfinished West Allis work

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Store owners on National Ave in West Allis say construction delays are crippling their business.

"It's down," Braun's Power House owner Joe Braun said. "It's way down. It's just impossible to get the place."

Braun said his business has been down 50 percent since construction started. The contract called for that project to be finished on November 2.

"We're doing the best we can to make sure people know where they are, but we figured by November first we'd be done with this issue, and it's continuing," Donnelly Chiropractic owner Kevin Donnelly said.

Tap City owner Phillip Kleist says his bar is so inaccessible, he stopped receiving mail.

"I actually had to go to the post office and ask where my mail was," Kleist said.

West Allis Mayor Dan Devine says there isn't much the city can do. The contract is between Cornerstone USA and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Devine says the contract calls for more than $2,000 in fines to Cornerstone every day the project takes past Nov 2. He's worried winter weather will delay the project further.

"It's a concern," Devine said. "I guess nobody is going to be surprised when it gets cold in Wisconsin in November, December. I heard this morning that right now it's currently too cold to pour."

WisDOT sent the following statement on the issue:

"Yes, this project is running behind schedule. We are working with the contractor to keep progress on the project moving forward. It is appreciated that the expectation is such that every project is done on time and in many cases under budget. Unfortunately, some projects do not go as planned, this is one such case."

Businesses said there isn't much they can do about the problem.

"I want it done," Donnelly said. "Get it finished. Get it finished and then we can move on and get back to normal."

Devine says he's urging people to continue going to the businesses on National Ave affected by the issue. The current timetable is for the project to be completed around Christmas.