A $46,000 water bill was racked up over six years and the City of Davenport has extended service once again.
“The landlord has not paid the rent, not paid the electric, not paid the water, so many of these people have paid for their homes,” Robin Hanna, a temporary resident of the Spring Lake Mobile Home Park said.
The first notice went up nearly a month ago, warning residents water would be shut off to their homes on November 20th.
Before that happened, the city extended the service once again.
“These people don’t deserve this they really don’t,” Hanna said.
The water is still running, the bill now growing even larger.
“The water's still on so the bill continues to go up,” Kelly Callihan, Davenport’s City Manager said.
The water will remain functional for another 10 days.
ABC Action News asked Callahan how the city could let it go on any longer.
“It gives the residents a little bit more time to relocate,” Callihan said.
Polk County Code Enforcement also handed out a letter to the residents, offering numbers to local shelters like Red Cross and The Salvation Army.
Dec. 1, 2018 is the new shut off date and the city of Davenport intends to file a lien against the landlord’s property.
Callihan tells ABC Action News the bill still remains more than $46,000 and says the owners shows no sign of paying the bill.
But, the situation has escalated.
“About half of the mobile homes now are currently without power,” Callihan said.
35 units sit on the Spring Lake Mobile Home Park property, many of them either running on generators or plugged into another mobile home which does have power.
“These people can’t even cook Thanksgiving dinner, there are no ovens, there is nothing, their power that does work is shut off,” Hanna said.
And soon, that will be the least of their problems. After Dec. 1, code enforcement will also evict all residents on the property because of the conditions.
“This is all they have and that’s sad, it’s really really sad that somebody could do this to a human being,” Hanna said.
Polk County Code Enforcement is helping those who need it, find a new place to live.
