A good gift for some Anoka folks: Plumbing that works

Kyle Dietz is surrounded by his belongings as he contemplates what to do next.

When they wake up Friday morning, residents of an Anoka apartment building are hoping for a present they've been waiting for all month: consistent running water and flushing toilets.

City officials stepped in Thursday, working into the evening to make repairs at the Golfview Apartments so more than 100 residents could stay home for the holiday.

A sewage pipe broke early this month, leaving residents with spotty water service for weeks. They used buckets of water to flush their toilets and showered at friends' houses while they waited for the problem to be fixed.

Their complaints caught the attention of a City Council member who visited the building next to the Greenhaven Golf Course on Wednesday and saw sewage backed up in the basement. City officials condemned the building, and residents thought they were going to be forced out, but instead got to stay.

"It's great that everybody is stepping in to help, but why did it take so long?" said Melissa Lenhart, who lives at Golfview with her 3-year-old daughter, Melody. "Nobody in their right mind should have to go through this."

Jim Corriveau, the building's owner, said he has been trying all month to get the plumbing system working. He said he called in professionals, but couldn't find anyone to take on the difficult job. When city workers came in Wednesday, he said he was finishing repairs and cleanup.

City Council Member Mark Freeburg said he didn't hear about the issue until Wednesday, even though city staff had been alerted weeks ago.

"I don't know who dropped the ball," he said. "That's why we have rental inspectors, so things like this don't happen. I will find out how it got to this point."

Freeburg said the city will pay for the repairs and cleanup and will assess the cost back to Corriveau.

Standing water in basement

Lenhart was putting up her Christmas tree the first week of December in the basement apartment she has lived in since June. Water started rising out of the toilet and, within a few minutes, her floor was covered in water. Then sewage started to seep out. She cleaned up the mess herself and the manager agreed to let her move into a vacant unit on the third floor.

Residents said they were told that the problem was being fixed. For a few days their water would work, but then it would stop again. Corriveau said he thought the water issues were resolved 10 days ago, but residents said they were still having problems.

Tom Henning said the kitchen in his third-floor apartment flooded after water started pouring out of the drain in his dishwasher.

Kyle Dietz said that, despite the smell, he stayed in the basement apartment he has lived in for 15 years because he thought Corriveau had the situation under control.

On Thursday, his brother and sister came over to help him pack up his apartment. He didn't know if he was going to move to a second-floor unit or try to find a new place to live.

Corriveau said he wishes the city would have offered to help him earlier. He said the city's condemnation order unnecessarily alarmed the residents and made it more difficult for him to finish the repairs. Corriveau serves as the treasurer of the Anoka Landlord Managers Association, which works with the city on rental housing issues and gives guidance to landlords.

"My number one concern has been and always will be taking care of the tenants," he said. "I want to be a good landlord."

When Freeburg visited the property on Wednesday, he said he thought a professional needed to be called in to fix the plumbing at the 41-year-old building.

"It's either these people had to move out or we had to fix it," he said. "People were going to get sick."

Kathy Barron, who lives with her 74-year-old mother and two 17-year-old children, said the last month has drained her financially. Since she couldn't cook, she had to pay for fast food. She has lived at Golfview for 15 years and said she doesn't want to move.

When she woke up Thursday and heard the city crews working on the building, she couldn't believe it.

"I'm just tired of crying," she said. "I'm just glad they're out there. That was the best Christmas present ever."

Lora Pabst • 612-673-4628