(WSVN) – Here’s an unusual one. Your sewer system breaks but you can’t repair it because a city water mains runs through your yard. Are you stuck with a house with no toilets? Or maybe not if you call Channel 7’s Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
When Gigi saw the house, she knew it.
Gigi de Rougemont: “We loved it from the moment we saw it and we decided that was it for us.”
It’s an older property in Hollywood so Gigi could see some things that needed fixing. It’s something that she couldn’t see and that stunned her.
Gigi de Rougemont: “It belongs to the city, but runs through my property.”
Long ago, probably in the 1960s, Hollywood ran a water pipe under their property to feed a fire hydrant. There is no record that they were given permission to do so, and now, 60 years later, a problem has arisen.
Gigi de Rougemont: “We have to make the drain field 10 feet from the pipe and there is no room for a drain field.”
Gigi needs a new drainage field because that died in her garden, which makes life inside difficult.
Gigi de Rougemont: “You can’t flush the toilet too much because it backs up, everything backs up and we now have to empty the septic tank about every two weeks at a very expensive price.”
Not being able to create a new drainage field in their garden with the city’s rusty steel water pipe, Gigi called Hollywood to move or remove the pipe.
They had two solutions.
Gigi de Rougemont: “You can either do it yourself and pay the costs, or you can take care of it, but it will take a year.”
Gigi can’t believe it would take the city a year to deal with a problem that a plumber could fix in a day or two.
Gigi de Rougemont: “That is unacceptable.”
It’s a mess, literally and figuratively.
Gigi de Rougemont: “You take your time and I suffer from the consequences in my house. I feel like a hostage. That’s the right word for it. “
There are no documents to show whether the pipe was legally inserted and there is no way to fix a sewage problem because the pipe is there. Howard, what can Gigi do?
Howard Finkelstein: “Since the city’s pipe was hidden on the property and there is no evidence that the city had permission to place it there, this pipe is unauthorized. It is what the law calls reverse conviction, which means that they have destroyed the value of your property through their illegal act. If the city doesn’t remove it, you can take them to court where a judge will either compel them or compensate you for the loss of your home. “
But can the city wait a year to solve the problem?
Howard Finkelstein: “No. You have a fair amount of time, and a house without a sewage treatment plant is useless. Therefore, the city has to find a solution in days, not months. “
Gigi de Rougemont: “So, help me, Howard really got through for us.”
Give credit to the city of Hollywood. After we talked to them, they cut the water pipe on Gigi’s property that led to the fire hydrant. They’ll be replacing it in about a year, which means Gigi can now create her new drainage field.
Gigi de Rougemont: “And thanks to Help Me Howard we can have our home again and function the way it should work.”
We are so happy to be able to help people. Now Gigi has permission and is ready to create the new drainage field. The city will use another pipe to add water to the hydrant. Why does it take a year? We were told that laying a pipe for a fire hydrant takes a lot of planning.
A smelly mess messing up your life? Ready to get it out of the way? Contact us and see if we can find a solution for you in the pipeline.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: [email protected]
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at [email protected]
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
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