Henson Construction Subcontractors Damage The Flower Box in Dresden

Stephanie Kemp, owner of The Flower Box in Dresden spoke at the August Dresden Board meeting during citizens input and stated that she had another issue regarding damages to her building which is located directly next to the new Municipal Complex being built.

“This is strike three. I only come to you when there’s damage or it’s costing us and we have damage. I’m here to ask you to hold them accountable for the things they’ve done. I would like to see you not pay them their last payment until we make sure that my damages are fixed,” Kemp stated.

Kemp is referring to Henson Construction subcontractors working on the new municipal complex who stated at a previous meeting when damages happened to The Flower Box that it would not happen again. Kemp noted that A2H was here temporarily, but that The Flower Box was a part of the community and Kemp and her husband were members of the community. Kemo stated that Mr. Henson stated that it was standard business practice, but that she wouldn’t consider it standard by any means.

“Would it be acceptable if we did this to a building that you’re building? My husband and I put our life savings into this. We built it in a way to look pleasing with the other buildings located on square and we hope to hand it down to our children one day,” Kemp explained.

Kemp told the city that she was amazed at how they had been treated by the people the city had hired.

“I’m asking for your help. They work for you. This is not acceptable and by no means is it standard,” Kemp said.

Kemp said that the workers were supposed to put plastic taping to keep the mortar off of her building, but they had nailed the plastic to her building. Kemp said she wasn’t even notified of this beforehand but had discussed taping the plastic, which did not happen.

Kemp said she was willing to discuss working on a solution but that she was leery due to past experiences with the workers.

“My issue is that I talk to them and no one gets back to me and then I have to press the issue,” Kemp informed. Kemp said she has previously had to resort to speaking with an attorney to resolve issues.

“I don’t want to have to take these measures, but I need to be taken seriously,” Kemp said.

Kemp said she doesn’t have an idea yet of the costs, but the workers are supposed to get in touch with their freemason, however, Kemp said she needs to be notified beforehand because it should meet her standards.

Cary Henson spoke to the board regarding the Municipal Building Project and stated that Kemp was correct that she was not notified of the plastic being nailed to her building. Henson stated that he was not making excuses for his workers.

Henson stated the tape did not hold and that is why they went about it the other way which left 12 holes.

“I assure you Miss Kemp, City Council and Mayor that we will repair it properly and we will get that done way before everything’s finalized and no one that sees this will know it happened,” Henson said. After repairs are made Henson stated that there shouldn’t be any structural damage at all.

Alderman Gwin Anderson asked Henson what could be done about communicating better with Kemp and keeping her in the loop.

Henson stated that the workers had been told not to touch her building without notifying him first.

“We did what we thought would solve the problem, but it didn’t work. It wasn’t a Henson employee that did this, but a subcontractor,” Henson said.

Alderman Curtis Doran stated that the problem boiled down to oversight. Doran stated that the workers waited until Kemp was gone to put the nails in and that she wasn’t there to hear it or check what was going on when the incident happened.

“This is twice that we’re being told that this is happening again. Trust left after the first time. It’s not standard business practice. It’s common sense not to destroy property that you don’t own and we don’t own,” Doran stated.

Alderman Ralph Cobb stated that Henson was responsible for what happened even though Henson stated that he wasn’t. Cobb said that Henson didn’t hire local subcontractors even though he told the city he was going to and that they could at least speak to local subcontractors, but the problem was that they didn’t know who all was working on the complex to be able to speak with them.

Maddox interjected and stated that the contractor that damaged Kemp’s building was local from Carroll County.

“We’re going to repair it, we’re going to repair it properly and we’ll get her to look at it and if she’s not happy, we’ll work on it some more,” Henson said.

Kemp said that she received an email from Henson. “This is a totally different statement and person than in the email I received. That’s why I have to come here to discuss it with y’all. This is not the Henson I get and that’s why I come here to get you to deal with him because your money talks to him,” Kemp said.

Henson said he would reiterate the details with all of his subcontractors.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held Monday September 9 at city hall instead of Monday, September 2 due to it falling on Labor Day.