While city crews move in to take over construction on High Street West Tuesday, businesses are still going to be impacted into the summer as the headache continues. The area was voted the worst road in the province following a nearly year-long saga of trying to replace infrastructure. The city is pointing the finger directly at the contractor they hired, saying there are a number of deficiencies on the site that need to be addressed.

Businesses have lost tens of thousands of dollars according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, who was brought in to try and explain the plight of the business community to city council. Many owners claim they've been ignored by City Hall, report unreturned phone calls and emails, or an explanation that doesn't address their concerns.

Jennifer Henshaw is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Prairie Region of the CFIB and she's suggesting compensation for the businesses be considered.

"We've heard from a number of business owners on the street that their sales have declined, customers don't have access to the business, (they have) stress and anxiety with some of them just hanging on by a thread," said Henshaw. "We've had one business owner that had his water shut off for almost three months and we've had business owners that have had access to their business blocked for almost a month."

Henshaw wouldn't give a number on how much the city should compensate the businesses and says only some of the businesses should receive the support, but wouldn't go into specifics saying the CFIB would be happy to work with city hall on developing a formula. She pointed to the City of Seattle where they set up a $25,000 business stabilization fund for each business that sits along a major construction route. That fund was to be used for specific business development during the construction and there was a long list of criteria for who could get the cash.

There was limited response from councillors when asked if they would consider offering compensation, even in the form of free business license for those impacted with Mayor Fraser Tolmie saying their sole focus is getting the work done.

Loss of income aside, Henshaw says it's amazing to see the lack of communication being reported by the businesses and she stressed the importance of keeping everyone up to date with such a major disruption.

"From a communications aspect, the business owners on High Street West have not been getting any communications on this. Multiple business owners have told us that they've called the city and have not received any calls back and it continues to be an ongoing issue."

As part of her presentation, Henshaw suggested that there be one point of contact for all communication between the city and businesses, then everyone knows who to call and who is responsible for disseminating that information.

Meanwhile, as the city takes over the job site, members of the administration say they have serious concerns about how the ground was compacted by the previous contractor and want the area inspected to make sure there is no significant settling in the years to come. They also have some concerns about the pipe that was put in the ground and will be inspecting it with cameras starting on Tuesday. There's also curb and gutter work, sidewalks that need to be replaced and other site preparation before any type of actual repaving can happen.

It was also brought up at the meeting Monday night that SaskPower had to be called in after a large number of power lines had been reportedly altered or spliced in the area. Crews from the Crown corporation were on site to start the week, ahead of the city starting their inspections.

You can find the CFIB report here.