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Article
Courtesy of The TV Channel 13
Published
June 6, 2014
ORLANDO -- People who live at a troubled apartment complex in Orange County are wondering if they'll still have water.
The Orlando Utilities Commission is threatening to shut off the water at the Tymberskan Condos because of of unpaid bills.
OUC has threatened several times to shut the water off at the condos which would leave many there with out a home. A decision on that is now on hold as the county works to find a solution to what has been a long time problem.
Looking around the TymberSkans on the lake condos, you can see the problems don’t just stop with the water. Mounds of garbage, burned down and boarded up apartments, and crime continues to be an issue.
The problems go years back, but people like Mary Lee who has lived here almost 30 years, say parts of it aren’t so bad.
It’s a sad situation…I really don’t know what to do,” Lee said.
OUC said the homeowners association owes about $83,000. The HOA that is supposed to pay the bill no longer exists. Instead Frank Barber serves as a court appointed receiver for the condo owners. Barber said the water bill exceeds the amount they collect from owners. |
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One of the vacant condos at Tymberskan Condos in Orange County. OUC is threatening to shut off power to the community because the HOA, which no longer exists, never paid the water bill.
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“We have all these people living there, investors that are collecting rent, and not paying us. We have squatters that are there using the water as the others are, and not paying us," Barber said.
Barber said they would like to go to an individual metering system rather than paying as a whole complex. But an OUC spokesperson said they don’t typically sub-meter water at apartment complexes.
“It’s enormously more complex than putting a water meter on a building like this.” said spokesperson
Tim Trudell.
"We have been working with them to postpone the date where they turn off the water,” said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs.
Jacobs said they are also working with OUC to prevent the water from getting turned off on the residents. The county has planned a meeting for next Tuesday to discuss the future of the condos as a whole.
“We are looking at diverting about $3 million to figuring out how to stabilize the situation," Jacobs said.
As for the residents like Lee and the dozens of others, they just wait and see.
“I’d like to move under different circumstances than what's going on now,” Lee said.
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