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Article Courtesy of The Tampa
Tribune
By Geoff Fox
Published
May 29, 2011
WESLEY CHAPEL --
Residents in the Wellington community in Meadow Pointe were angry Tuesday
morning when water to the condominium complex was turned off.
After 24 hours without water, they were
uncomfortable and livid.
Shacoya Keyes, who moved to Wellington on April 1,
said she spent Tuesday night with her four children, including a
4-month-old baby, at a hotel, but had to return to her home Wednesday
morning. She brought back a 5-gallon jug of water and several 1-gallon
jugs.
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the toilets, at least," she said.
A worker in the water department
said Wednesday that Wellington's water bill – charged to
Wellington Division, LLC – had not been paid since Sept.
30. Wellington is located off Mansfield Drive, near County
Line Road, in Meadow Pointe II.
Several residents peppered property
managers with complaints, and developer Premier Home
Designs, also the community's homeowners' association
board, paid the nearly $16,700 water bill to Pasco County
Utilities on Wednesday afternoon.
Judy Allen, district manager for KW
Property Management, which manages Wellington, said the
housing bust left Premier with limited cash flow, and much
of the community, designed for 330 units, has not been
completed. |
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The
rear of the Wellington apartment is undeveloped and unkempt.
Residents there say the landscaping has been lapsed as the
management company suffers financial woes. A $17,000 water bills was
just paid, after the service to residents was cut-off. Garbage pick
up was also lapse, however, was picked up when residents complained.
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Residents say 36 units in three buildings have been
built.
"This is part of what has happened with the
economy," Allen said. "That doesn't really help people understand
(why their water was turned off), and it doesn't make it any easier."
Several residents Wednesday also said they had heard
rumors that the complex was in foreclosure, but Allen said she has received
no notice of that, and Pasco records did not indicate that foreclosure
proceedings had begun.
"We're in the middle" of the situation,
Allen said. "We (KW Property Management) want to be able to help these
people out, but we're limited in what we can do. We're going to sit down
with the developer (next week) to see where this is going to go and see if
they can be more supportive.
"In the end, we want to work together to make it
good for the people out there and for the developer to survive. We want to
avoid all this. It's stress on everybody. The (residents) out there have
been really good. They've been very patient. We didn't want this to happen,
and I thought we would avoid it."
While Keyes and other residents were unhappy about the
water issue, they weren't exactly caught by surprise. They said notices of
pending water shut-off dates had been posted on their doors several times,
but it had never actually happened.
But those aren't the only problems.
Shane Bowie, who moved to Wellington in January, said
the grass has not been cut – "I'm 6-foot-3, and there's grass as tall
as me out there," he said – and the community Dumpster is often
overflowing, leaving trash strewn around the parking lot.
"And on top of all that, all these complaints,
some people have mold growing through windows," he said. "I was
sick with bronchitis twice in the past; I thought it was the pollen, but
other people have gotten sick. Now everybody's wondering (if mold is to
blame). Some people have insect infestations."
Bowie, who lives at Wellington with his mother-in-law,
wife and two children, ages 5 and 15 months, now fears that the power will
be cut off.
Gil Williams said he has lived in Wellington about
three years, and is one of the longest-standing residents. Thanks to the
unkempt conditions, he said he has watched one neighbor after another move
away.
"There's been trash everywhere," Williams
said, obviously disgusted. "It's sad what a company can do to you. They
don't want to pay their bills, but they want you to pay yours."
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