Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Ocala council removes Davis–Bacon requirement for downtown parking garage contract after merchants describe business losses
Summary
Council approved removing Davis–Bacon requirements from the SSC Construction Management parking garage contract and heard multiple downtown merchants describe steep drops in customer traffic and requests for better scheduling, signage and temporary parking while construction continues.
The Ocala City Council voted to remove Davis–Bacon requirements from the contract with SSC Construction Management for the downtown parking garage, after a group of downtown business owners described reduced foot traffic and intermittent road closures that they say have hurt sales.
At a public comment segment before the vote, multiple downtown business owners said construction activity and unclear traffic patterns have caused steep declines in customers. Sarah Partee, owner of the Gathering Cafe, told the council her business has seen “about a 50%” drop in customer visits and reported a construction-related water outage on the cafe’s busiest day. Ricky Nabok, store manager for the T‑Mobile at Pine Avenue and Broadway, said monthly customer counts were down roughly 18% and that appointment-based businesses need advance notice of road closures. Jay Richmond, Starbucks manager, said the…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
