Residents of 18 trailers in the Ho Ji Village Mobile Home Park on Buttermilk Road were without water for three days before the City of Sylvania turned the water back on and the park’s owner began digging wells.
The city had turned off the water because the park’s owner, Wayne Wiley, owes more than $6,000 in past-due water bills, said City Manager Carter Crawford. Crawford said the park started having bad water leaks in May 2008 and that bills have been adding up since then.
Crawford said the city notified Wiley on Nov. 20 that the bill must be paid or water to the park would be turned off on Jan. 26. The bill was not paid and the water was turned off as scheduled.
After three days without water, residents put up protest signs and called for media attention, saying, “Welcome to Screven’s Little Haiti,” and prompting one passer-by to donate water.
Crawford said since Wiley had a well-drilling rig on site and “for humanitarian reasons,” the city turned the water back on Friday so the residents would have water while two wells are being dug.
Crawford said Tuesday that the workers drilling the wells were delayed when they struck rock and because they had to stop and crush a septic tank, but that the wells should be finished by the end of the week. He said the city will leave the water on as long as substantial progress is being made on the wells.
The Ho Ji park is in Screven County, but it is serviced by the city’s water system.
Wiley said he paid $3,500 in past-due water bills and tried to keep the water from being turned off, but he still owes $6,000. He said some residents of the park have been ill and lost their jobs and rather than evict them, he has let them stay.
But he said that has caused him to have trouble paying for water bills and repairs. He also said some residents have failed to report water leaks, further exacerbating the problem.
Resident Angel Roberts, who lost her job in December when Sylvania Yarn Systems closed, said she’s concerned about the quality of water that will come from the wells as well as the water pressure. She said she also is concerned about muddy roads with potholes and safety issues raised by abandoned mobile homes in the park.