Pymatuning Twp. apartment residents face utility shutoff
Jul. 19—PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP — A leaky roof and uncollected garbage is one thing, but a water and sewer shutoff notice at her apartment complex pushed Janette Andrasko to the brink.
"This is unbelievable," Andrasko, a resident of Arlington Manor Apartments in Pymatuning Township said. "People can't live like this."
Residents received a notice dated Monday from Reynolds Utilities, which provides water and sewer service to Reynolds Industrial Park and surrounding areas including Arlington Manor.
The notice warns the apartment complex's landlord, TM Associates, is in arrears a total of $10,330. If the amount isn't paid by the landlord or tenants the utilities would be shut off on or after Aug. 17, the notice said.
"I've been trying to get somebody from TM Associates to tell me when they're going to pay the bill," Andrasko said. "But I can't get any answers."
Brad Gosser, vice president and executive director of the utility, acknowledged the notice had been sent.
"I feel really bad for the residents," Gosser said. "I know some of them are in bad shape. But we were left with no choice."
TM, a realtor development and property managing company based in Rockville, Md., is two months behind in their bill. When adding the most recent utility bill which has just been sent, the total balance is over $15,000, Gosser said.
The utility has spent hours in trying to track down a TM representative who returns phone calls or emails.
"When we finally got someone from TM to talk to and they told us they have no money," he said. "I told them they have to pay the bill for services we provide."
A message left at TM's headquarters Wednesday afternoon wasn't immediately returned.
It isn't known how many live in the 48-unit apartment complex, some of which are empty. Arlington Manor provides government-subsidized housing, she said.
This is the latest in a long list of financial squabbles the utility has had with TM over the years, Gosser said. In the past multiple meters failed at the complex requiring new ones to be installed. The utility sent a bill to the company but it went unpaid.
"They threatened to have a major law firm come after us," Gosser said. "We don't have that kind of money to deal with that."
Andrasko, who has been living at Arlington Manor for about a year, said for months her roof has leaked. But constant complaints have gone unaddressed.
"In April our garbage wasn't picked up for two weeks because they (TM) didn't pay the bill," she said.
On its website, TM lists 288 properties and 13,800 units. TM's listed Mercer County properties are Mercer Manor, Mercer; Woodside Apartments, Pine Township and Wright Village in Sandy Lake.
State law allows tenants to pay overdue utility bills owed by their landlord and deduct that amount from their regular rent. But like State Tower residents, Andrasko said Arlington Manor tenants can't scratch up that much funds.
"People here don't have that kind of money," she said.
