FPL maintenance project could put a damper on a restaurant in Boynton Beach

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - For Kevin Scully, the best part of the job is greeting customers at his restaurant. But he's worried they'll soon start to disappear.

"People are going to avoid the area," says Scully, owner of Scully's Restaurant.

Starting next week - Florida Power & Light will close one southbound lane of U.S. 1 by Scully's Restaurant to replace wood utility poles with concrete ones. Scully says it couldn't come at a worse time.

"We make our money in January, February and March, that is it. The rest of the year we tread water," says Scully.

Originally set for October, the project was postponed when local crews were needed immediately in the northeast.

"When Hurricane Sandy was threatening our service territory, we put all maintenance on hold and after the storm we sent 1000 workers to the Northeast to help with restoration," says Greg Brostowicz, a spokesperson for FPL.

Now Scully wants it postponed again - so his business doesn't go under.

"I care about my 20 employees; I have waitresses who work for tips and they're going to lose out," says Scully.

But FPL says the project needs to be done before hurricane season, adding that if it's pushed off - the road closures would be worse.

"If we delay this we'll have to shutdown both lanes of U.S. 1. Where in January we'll have special equipment and only have to shutdown one lane and allow traffic to still move through," says Brostowicz.

"No one understands why a big huge company like FPL can't put  this project off until April or May, well ahead of hurricane season," says Scully.