Park owner owes SAWS $9,200
The San Antonio Water System cut off water service to the Plaza Mobile Home Park on Monday because the owner of the property owed them $9,200 and hadn't been making payments.
San Antonio-Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed said after seeing a story on KSAT-12 News about the situation she was so angered she decided to investigate the situation.
"I was very upset about it, I saw that last night and I said this is not right," Reed said. "We have started making inquiries to see exactly what is happening."
Residents said they are billed each month by the park's management and the money they pay to the manager is supposed to be used to pay SAWS.
According to SAWS, the property averages a monthly bill of about $1,800 but they are only making payments totaling around $300.
Reed said the owner could face legal consequences if the investigation finds any wrong doing on his part.
"Theft could be a possible consequence and then ... there's also questions of consumer protection," Reed said.
Resident Rebecca Mike said she was happy someone is investigating the situation.
She said someone who saw the story dropped off some jugs and bottles of water Thursday morning and the residents shared it. She appreciated the kind gesture but said what they need is the water turned back on.
"I'm very mad about it, I don't even like coming home because I don't have water," Mike said. "It's an inconvenience. I have to go to work; we have to get jugs of water just to flush the commode. It's very inconvenient."
Thursday night the owner of the mobile home park, Joe Sandoval, shared his side of the story.
Sandoval said he's fallen behind on the water bill in the past due to residents not paying their bills. He also said he was in a repayment program with SAWS in the past.
Sandoval said last year he turned over control of the water bill and collection of payment to an assistant manager who lives at the park. That manager paid SAWS $7,000 dollars out of his own pocket last March when SAWS turned off the water for non-payment.
Sandoval said he hasn't received a bill from SAWS since then and was unaware of the situation until the park manager called him on Monday.
Sandoval said he now plans to contact SAWS to get his name back on the account so he can make a payment and set up a repayment plan.
In the meantime, Sandoval said he would provide bottled water to the residents until the water service is restored.
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