A man on Cleveland's east side is dealing with a deep dip right in front of his house and he said city crews created it.
“They had to cut away at the roots here," said Jack Kochis, pointing to his tree lawn on School Avenue.
He admits he owed hundreds on his water bill, but he told me when the Cleveland Water Department came out to shut it off, workers ended up having to move the access valve.
Where?
It’s now in the middle of his sidewalk.
"They say they sub-contract that and I say it doesn't matter because it's not done right,” commented Kochis. “Whoever wrote the check for them should have checked their work."
That's because not only did they take out his sidewalk, but the access cap is below the other sidewalk squares. That means when a new sidewalk comes in, they will have to fix the cap, too.
Kochis' sidewalk disappeared in November of 2014—that’s 13 months ago. His next-door neighbor told me her uncle had to stop living with her because of the forgotten fix. "He was in a wheelchair and he couldn't hardly move about because he only had one leg," said Laurie, who only wanted to use her first name.
Kochis doesn't want anyone to get hurt so he had to take matters into his own hands. "I filled it with gravel last year,” he said. “I filled it with gravel so at least it would be not as deep as it is."
We went straight to the water department. Reps told me they're sending an inspector today or tomorrow to look at the problem. They also told me they don't have a record of Kochis calling about this. Their advice is, if you are making a call, make sure you have the right number.
Neighbors need it repaired.
"I think if they do it, they should fix it," said Laurie.
"I'm irritated with the lack of response," Kochis told us.
He also said he has called two or three times this year and has not gotten any progress so he contacted us for help.
He still owes for back bills and the city told us he needs to pay them off.
We’ll keep you up to speed on this sidewalk standoff.
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