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Article
Courtesy of THE NEWS-PRESS
By
Jennifer Booth Reed
Published
December 27, 2006
The
saga continues for residents of a North
Fort Myers condominium destroyed during Hurricanes Charley and Wilma.
Internal disagreements and delays with the building's insurance carrier
had held up reconstruction for nearly two years. Finally, crews arrived in
late July to fix the moldy, shattered units. Now, a roof leaks.
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Two
of eight homeowners went to check on their units on Tuesday
and were greeted with pools of water.
"They should just rip out everything and start over.
This is ridiculous," said homeowner Mary Manning as she
sloshed through her hallway.
The water dripped from the
ceiling, pooling in the hallway, bedrooms and part of the
kitchen and soaking the recently installed dry wall.
The water from Manning's unit seeped into Gwen Spiher's
place below. It wasn't as bad in Spiher's condo, but it was
bad enough.
"There's water in the
cupboard in here, too," Spiher called from one of the
two bedrooms. |
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Gwen
Spiher, left, and Mary Manning, residents of Greenwood Condominiums
in North Fort Myers, look through Mannings' flooded condo on
Tuesday. Manning's and Spiher's condominiums are undergoing a
long-awaited renovation after Hurricane Charley more than two years
ago. The roof of the building recently sprang a leak and has caused
more damage. |
"There's water everywhere, Gwen,"
replied a beleaguered Manning.
A team from InStar Services Group, the general contractor, arrived by noon
to inspect. The electricians followed.
"Once it dries out, everything will be
fine," Robert Williams of Slentz Electric said of the wiring.
"Now, the dry wall guys, they have a lot of work."
Neither the InStar representatives on site at noontime nor the supervisor
overseeing the Greenwood project nor his boss at the company's Florida
division in Bradenton would answer questions.
A list of questions was sent to the corporate office in Texas and then
forwarded to the company's public relations division. As of press time, no
one had responded.
Spiher and Manning were not sure which firm
rebuilt the roof.
Margie Holmquist, president of the
homeowners association, is irked that Manning and Spiher complained. But
then, the rebuilding process has caused a rift between the women.
Manning and Spiher had wanted to hire a
local construction firm. Holmquist and the rest of the homeowners had
agreed to hire InStar, the contractor their insurance company recommended.
That argument still festers — and the roof leak hasn't helped.
"It would never have happened if we had a qualified contractor and
qualified workers," Manning said.
Holmquist disagreed.
"You can't get upset," she said. "These things happen.
These people (InStar) are known all over the United States."
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