WATFORD CITY, N.D. (AP) - A Watford City man wants monetary help from the city after his basement flooded following a water main burst.
The Williston Herald (https://bit.ly/1SCAjOH ) reports the pipe break led to water going into Bill Thinnes’ basement in March. The break also formed a sinkhole in the front yard and caused the collapse of two sidewalks.
Thinnes said his front yard “looked like the 6 o’clock news.”
“Right there by my house it was like a geyser, it kept flowing like that for two hours,” he said.
There could be around $48,000 in expenses between repairs for the basement and yard, Thinnes estimates. He has paid about $8,000 so far to pump out water and fill the sinkhole, among other work.
The city’s insurance has paid for some work, including taking out soaked drywall and the use of blowers to dry up moisture that was left, but Thinnes said there’s much left to be done.
Thinnes said the city “doesn’t seem to care.”
“The whole basement floor is a wreck,” he said. “It’s just disaster on top of disaster.”
Watford City public works superintendent Justin Smith said the city is willing to lend a hand, but it’s not a quick process.
“We are working with him,” Smith said. “I’d rather not comment on it until we get the thing resolved.”
Thinnes came to the city from Colorado in 2010, getting work as a chemical rep with an oilfield company. After living in a trailer, he bought the small house across from the county courthouse. It has gone through several years’ worth of projects, and the lot has decorative pebbles instead of grass.
“I wanted everything to look good because I live here on the corner, because everybody drives by on their way to the courthouse,” he said.
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Information from: Williston Herald, https://www.willistonherald.com
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