Suburban Chicago trailer park may get water shut off next week
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Neighbors in a south suburban community are about to have their water shut off.
Their landlord didn't pay their water bill, leaving them on the hook.
It's a story CBS 2 has been following for weeks and right now, the residents of a Blue Island mobile home community are taking their pleas for help to city officials.
CBS 2 is always investigating and Andrew Ramos has been following this since it first unfolded and reports from Blue Island.
The clock is ticking for Keke Jones and others at the Forest View Mobile home park in Blue Island.
The mom, who works from home, is among the dozens of residents at risk of losing water come Monday.
"I am still hopeful that they will figure something out or the city of Blue Island will consider this and give us more time," Jones said.
Time is one thing they did not get.
Notices were sent out last week, blindsiding residents when they learned their property management hadn't paid the water bill since March.
The current balance we learned - is over $850,000.
They have since rallied seeking answers from Forest View management and the city, but to no avail.
That water service shutoff is still set for November 20, and according to the city, the site will no longer be deemed safe. Residents are already being urged to vacate their homes within 30 days.
"They don't care. They don't care about us at all. They don't care about our families. All they care about is money," Jones said.
For Jobany Gonzalez, a mother of three who has lived in the community for nearly a decade, a plan B is not an option.
"Where do I go with my kids? How do I just take their home away from them? To take them somewhere where I don't even know where we're gonna end up," Gonzalez said.
A city administrator would only tell CBS 2 that the outstanding bill has still not been paid.
Residents tell us CBS 2 they were told that Forest View property management is currently in talks with the city to pay off a portion of the balance, but they are moving slowly.
Families hope their presence in numbers at a city council meeting Wednesday night is enough to move the needle before they're left high and dry.
"We are humans. And you guys are treating us like trash, just like you treat this park," Jones said.
CBS 2 made numerous attempts to get an update on this situation from the property management team here at Forest View. CBS 2 was directed to call their attorney.
That attorney has yet to get back to CBS 2.
The water is still set to be shut off on November 20.
