Hundreds of residents went without water for nearly 25 hours this week after a Baton Rouge apartment complex didn鈥檛 pay its bills.
The Baton Rouge Water Co. shut off the water at the 5 East Apartments between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the company. It was restored at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
One resident tacked a handwritten sign on the door of the leasing office asking when the water would be restored.
The leasing office was locked, and according to several residents it is often vacant and empty during business hours. The sewer bill hadn鈥檛 been paid in six months.
Residents had warnings posted on their doors Jan. 14 that said water would be shut off on Jan. 27 over nonpayment of the sewer/solid waste removal fee. Water is included in the price of rent.
On Jan. 16, residents received an email from Greengate Management that said the water service would not be interrupted.
鈥淲e have been in contact with the water company and the bank to resolve this administrative matter and all necessary payments are being processed,鈥� the email said.
Nicole Veal, a resident of the complex for almost a year, said she reached out to the property manager with questions. Nobody answered. She then walked to the leasing office on Tuesday demanding answers, only to be met by another locked door.
鈥淚 had reached out before because I had issues with raw sewage coming in through the floor, and they never responded to that,鈥� Veal said. 鈥淚 finally had to track down a maintenance man myself, and even now it鈥檚 not totally fixed. They don鈥檛 do anything.鈥�
Veal said this problem was in the last six months, the time frame during which the company hadn鈥檛 paid the sewage bill.
Another resident of three years, Camry Hutton-Samuels, agreed it is hard to communicate with the management company. She said a similar experience happened about a year ago where threats were made to shut off the water, but nothing came of them.
Greengate Management, which has an office in Lafayette and address in Baltimore, did not respond to requests by 抖阴h.
鈥淎ll they did was give us a $50 credit toward our next rent. But that鈥檚 not the problem. It鈥檚 the principle of it,鈥� Veal said.