ATLANTA, GA (Atlanta News First) – Amid a water crisis in Atlanta, a group of small business owners and community activists are calling for financial relief from city leaders.
The group announced plans to create the Atlanta Small Business Water Crisis Relief Fund before the Atlanta City Council on Monday.
Devin Barrington Ward of the Black Futurist group said the proposed emergency ordinance would initially consist of a $5 million budget to help businesses with little or no water following recent water main bursts that cut service to thousands of people.
“Every time I talk to them, they're telling me they've lost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue,” Barrington Ward said of the affected business owners. “This is unacceptable because it impacts people's bottom lines, their ability to make payroll, rent and other overhead associated with operating a business in the city of Atlanta through no fault of their own.”
Barrington-Ward said the relief fund would provide up to $10,000 per small business and up to $25,000 per mid-sized business.
Trinket Lewis, co-founder of More Life Juice Co. in southwest Atlanta, said water pressure at his smoothie bar has been affected, hurting business.
“In the last three days, our sales are down 58 to 63 percent,” Lewis said, “which meant we had to stop everybody and go to the store to get ice, because without ice you can't make smoothies.”
Atlanta Water Crisis Report
Ideally, the money would come from the city's budget allocation, state and federal emergency relief funds and private donations and grants, the group said at a press conference Monday.
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