Oakland County water main break leaves restaurants closed, business owners frustrated

FOX 2 - The water main break is affecting businesses in several Oakland County communities — one industry really feeling the pinch is restaurants.

The backstory:

Many had to close Mother’s Day and are still shuttered, waiting for the chance to open. It appears all they can do is wait until given the green light.

While the water main has been replaced at this point — systems need to be flushed, pressure needs to be restored and it’s really a case-by-case basis depending on the community.

FOX 2 visited both Auburn Hills and downtown Lake Orion — talking to pizza places that missed out on Mother’s Day sales — one of the biggest days for restaurants.

Now they’re trying to figure out what to do and how to operate — because some do have water and have brought water in from the outside.

Cottage Inn Pizza in Auburn Hills says the communication has not been ideal, and they were hoping to open this morning — sick pizza in Lake Orion is trying to figure out a solution using their food truck — for both businesses they want to open ASAP.

"You have hundreds of customers a day," said Tom Bailey, owner of Sick Pizza. "The bills don’t stop. You somehow have to figure out how to make that work. Obviously, your employees' bills don’t stop, so you've got to keep them working as well. And you’ve got to figure out how to keep them working as well. We just have to get through it together."

FOX 2: "What has downtown looked like the pay couple days?"

"It’s a ghost town," he said. "There’s nobody in and out of here. Businesses have been closed. It’s crazy. The residents, they're not allowed to take showers or anything like that. We have so many employees we moved a lot of them up to Oxford so they can keep working."

"We have about 15 people working here," said Bill McDonald, owner of Cottage Inn Pizza, Auburn Hills. "And basically had to tell them they were indefinitely not working until we find out something from the city. It’s been super spotty on what we’re hearing. These guys have kids and families, and some of them, it’s the only source of income. it’s a big deal.

"We’re probably one of 100 restaurants that’s closed, so it’s a lot of people not working right now. When things open back up make sure to tip your servers, order some carryout and try to help everybody out."

Related:

• Oakland County water main break: Who is affected by broken main in Auburn Hills
• Auburn Hills water main break: Where impacted residents can get water

Cottage Inn Pizza did receive an update from the city late this afternoon that they can restart carry out service.

Sick Pizza is planning to have their food truck ready to go and give their employees something to do and to feed the community.