'This Is Wrong': Renaissance 88 Residents Still Without Heat & Hot Water
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) — After another round of inspections at Renaissance 88 Apartments, the City of Thornton plans to issue several building code violations Tuesday. Residents throughout the property are still without hot water and heat.
"This is embarrassing that people in our neighborhood would be treated like this," said Dr. Jacque Phillips, a Thornton City Council Member Ward 1.
Phillips isn't a resident at Renaissance 88 apartments, but she lives nearby. The councilwoman sees their problems as her own. She first learned about the property issues last week, and visited residents after management failed the initial city inspection.
"I went out there Saturday, and that's when I realized things were not taken care of. These are working people. They pay taxes. Even if they didn't, the City of Thornton is responsible for our people and this is wrong," said Phillips.
The city visited the property Friday morning to give residents information on area resources available to them. Phillips believes this is far from a solution, especially since there are families without transportation and residents with disabilities who can't take advantage of suggested resources, like showering at a community center.
Phillips says if the city issues building code violations, repairs would have to be made in 15 days before and there's a possibility it would be condemned. She says that could still leave residents without hot water and heat for two more weeks.
"They can say that it's not habitable there. Then that is a problem, too. What now? They'll move people? These are families with children. What about their schools? What if they don't have transportation to their jobs?" said Phillips.
According to HUD, Colorado Housing and Finance Agency has been consistently working with management the past week to address three issues.
RELATED: CBS4 Coverage Of Renaissance 88 Apartments
Property management held an event for residents Monday. Management apologized for the delay in repairs and is optimistic the parts necessary to complete them will arrive this week.
In the meantime, the property manager has made vacant units available for residents to take hot showers in.
