County commissioners respond to Bee Ridge construction complaint

The Church of the Palms preschool is open and operating today after county commissioners coordinated with staff to avoid the preschool having to close due a loss of water while crews continue work on Bee Ridge Road. 

The Church of the Palms received a notice earlier this month alerting the church water would be turned off the following day and a similar notice on Thursday. 

The first notice was sent late in the afternoon, which forced the church to suspend its preschool operations for the following day. 

However, yesterday’s notice prompted Kevin Kenny of Church of the Palms early childhood center to contact county commissioners. 

The issue was caused by a conflict with a water main and a storm pipe, which made it necessary to turn off water to the area.

Initially commissioners coordinated with staff and made arrangements to do that portion of the work outside of the preschool's operating hours, but crews have since reevaluated and opted to install a valve making it unnecessary to turn off water in the area.  

"They were wonderful. They responded and actually got their people involved," Kenny said. "Everybody was happy and professional."

The Florida Department of Transportation is running the two-year, $17 million project, which began in January.