Residents of a complex on Jacksonville’s Westside said they are never sure if they’ll have water on any given day.
Action News Jax first told you about the problem at Eureka Gardens on Monday, when Mayor Lenny Curry and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department dropped off three pallets water bottles.
Action News Jax investigator Courtney Cole spent the day at the complex talking to residents and working to get answers from local and regional management, federal officials and City Councilman Garrett Dennis. Dennis represents District 9, where the apartment complex is located.
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Resident John Gassit said the water regularly cuts off without warning at Eureka Gardens apartments.
"When you wake up, you don't know if you have water or not,” Gassit told Action News Jax.
He said he can remember experiencing problems with the water ever since he moved in.
Gassit said this is his second year living in the complex and this year, he said, the problem seems even worse.
"I have to get in my car, go somewhere else and take a shower,” Gassit said.
Cole went to the on-site management office, but the people there weren’t cooperative.
Before Cole could even finish introducing herself and starting asking questions, the staff in the office told her and the photojournalist working with her to "turn off the camera."
When Cole asked if they would be open to answering questions off camera, she was told, “We're gonna call security to escort you all off the property."
Then, Cole contacted the management company -- Millennia Housing Management -- via phone and email, but received no response.
The complex is federal housing, so she contacted the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The department responded in an email, blaming the water problems on failing pumps.
HUD said, “According to the information we received, a new control panel is being installed to hopefully solve the situation as a temporary repair until a permanent solution is developed.”
The installation of a new control panel was set to begin Monday.
Dennis said he has not received a construction schedule or confirmation that any work has been started or completed.
In an email to Dennis’ office, Scott Vitatoe, the regional manager for Millennia Housing Management said, “The ongoing situation with the lift stations is the issue involving the sewer system. Unfortunately we have had an on-going issue with the pumps and the control panels operating those pumps.”
In the email, Vitatoe also said they complex is forced to shut off the water when the pump goes out, in an effort to prevent sewage backup into apartments and into the environment.
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The pump gives them no warning, Vitatoe said, so they have no way to warn residents.
“What I have been doing is reaching out to our federal partners -- Congressman Lawson, Sen Rubio, Sen Nelson's office -- and they've been applying pressure to their D.C. office, to federal HUD,” Dennis told Action News Jax.
But Dennis said he believes the problem comes down to the property owners. “The issue that we're having here is that Global Ministries (Foundation) still owns the property. The transaction still hasn't taken place. The former owner is still in the mix and that's the problem, and federal HUD needs to address it,” Dennis said.
Cole contacted Global Ministries Foundation and received an email from Dr. Richard Hamlet, the president and CEO, that said, in part:
“Millennia is managing the property for us and has all the funds they need to correct this, or any other site issues. The water repair work I understand was done today, the delay had nothing to do with GMF.”
Hamlet went on to say that Millennia has been the contracted operator of the Eureka Gardens property for the past 18 months.
“Millennia has been delayed in their purchase, but expects to purchase from us within the next 30 days. Once they close, they will be doing a major rehab on the property, which includes a permanent solution to this recurring issue," the email from Hamlet said.
Gassit hopes that permanent solution comes soon.
"I think they can do better than what they're doing with this water business,” he said.
Yesterday, Vitatoe told Councilman Dennis’ office that a civil engineer is evaluating that situation and making a recommendation on how to best correct the issue. The management company is also working with the city of Jacksonville’s Environmental Quality Division to get approval of the proposed fix, once it’s been presented.
Millennia is not expecting to hear back from the city for another two weeks.