HARRISBURG, Pa. - The ongoing dispute over the clean-up at the site of the wall collapse along the Mulberry Street bridge remains unresolved, and the frustration from the business owner who is severely impacted by it is stronger than ever.
Howard Henry, the owner of the now-closed Howard Tire and Auto on Cameron Street, continues to fight an uphill battle he's unsure he has the resources to win.
"The biggest challenge for me from day one to here is that I can't fix that," he said Monday. "I can't do anything to it, I can't touch it, and the people with the power to do it, for, whatever their reason is, won't."
The lawsuit Henry filed last year against the city, PennDOT, and several businesses that had a hand in the wall's construction or repairs is proceeding slowly, as additional defendants are being added to the process.
It includes the contractors who worked on the wall in 2015, who submitted a memo from an engineering firm in 2007 suggesting flaws with the construction of the parking lot at McFarland Apartments that collapsed on his business.
"That's egregious," he said. "You put my life in danger knowing that the possibility of that was real, that it might collapse?"
The bills keep piling up, to the tune of around $6,000 a month, as Howard Tire has been closed since late 2016.
"It's just this great big ball and chain around my neck," he said.
Perhaps the most worrisome debt is the $22,000 bill he receives annually for his property taxes for a property that can no longer generate revenue safely.
"The idea is just to keep kicking the can down the road until I can't pay the taxes on this property, then what will the city do as a result of that, Sheriff's sale my property, what will they do?" he asked. "It's just really hard to go to sleep at night knowing that by their hand, I have to suffer."