HARRISBURG, Pa. - Congressman Scott Perry is pledging his support for Howard Henry, the owner of Howard Tire & Auto whose warehouse was destroyed in the wall collapse along the Mulberry Street Bridge earlier this year.
It's been six months since that first wall collapse here behind Howard Tire and still nothing has been done about the clean-up, but on Wednesday afternoon, Perry toured the warehouse with Henry and Henry's attorney to see the damage first-hand.
"This man can't wait for months, if not years for a court process," Perry, a Republican whose district covers Harrisburg, said. "All of this is going to go away at some point. You can't just pay the bill without any revenue coming in, so time is of the essence here."
Perry admits there is not much he can do at the federal level, since the wall collapse was not related to a flood or some other disaster that they know of, but what he says he can do is facilitate a discussion between all parties involved about the problem.
That is something Henry has been seeking for months: to bring everyone to the table.
"Nobody else is interested, whether it's government agencies, whether it's private ownership of buildings affected, and so they have no motivation, no impetus to find a resolution or solution," Perry said of the current situation.
Henry is unable to touch the damage site since that would make him liable for clean-up. He shot down the tire shop last month, worried about a potential safety risk should further collapse occur.
"They're wondering if we're going broke," he said Wednesday, referring to his former employees. "Today, we're not going broke, but it will happen. I mean, if something doesn't happen soon, I'm going to have to have a public auction or something's going to have to happen. I'm going to run out of money."
Henry also met with staffers from Gov. Tom Wolf's office earlier Wednesday to discuss whether any sort of relief could be available.