Chicago homeowner says city construction fix is costing him money
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A city fix triggered a whole new problem for a man in Canaryville, and it's already cost him more than $1,000.
He tells CBS 2 Political Reporter Dana Kozlov he is now fighting to get the city to make it right.
"We're going to watch the way the water goes. You see it running in from the alley. It'll run underneath the fence, pool right here eventually, and once it pools right here, it'll go down the stairs and under the door," he said.
It's not the sort of show and tell Frank McFarlane enjoys. He uses a garden hose to show how water runs from the outside of the alley alongside his house to the alley's center, and then into his basement every time it rains.
"You can see drywall there and there I've had to replace," he said.
McFarlane, who has lived in his house for 40 years, said the seepage started after the city came out and repaved the alley a few months ago. Chicago Department of Transportation workers did that repaving a few months after CBS 2 first met McFarlane when he was pushing to get the city to fix a gaping hole in the sidewalk area of the same alley.
A few days after that story ran, CDOT did fix it. But McFarlane says workers later created this new problem when they resurfaced the alley.
And he isn't just dealing with rainwater.
"When the garbage truck comes it leaks and it's full of flies and maggots, and there are liquids on the thing. And if it rains the next day, straight into the basement," he said.
McFarlane said he has reached out repeatedly to CDOT and 15th Ward Ald. Ray Lopez with no luck.
When Kozlov spoke with him, Lopez acknowledged there was an issue but would not comment further.
After CBS 2 reached out, a spokesperson now says CDOT is working on a solution to improve drainage in that alley, and crews are supposed to come out this month to fix it.
