There is a different kind of road rage occurring in the Bellamy Villas.
Residents of the villas in the Village of Ashland are livid over the recent resurfacing job done on their area streets.
“This is completely unacceptable,” said Laurel Krizek, a resident of Carnegie Court.
Rainey Construction in Wildwood was hired for the resurfacing project which started May 2 and was completed May 6.
The original dates for the start of the project were in early February. That date was pushed to March, then rescheduled for April, finally occurring in May. The reason given for the constant delays, according to Krizek, was the company being backed-up in the schedule due to repairs they were making on previous jobs.
During a Saturday morning meeting at Krizek’s villa with several residents from the neighborhood, opinions and concerns were voiced over the inadequate drainage, the damage left behind to driveways and sprinklers, the lack of clean-up by the company and the company not finishing the job. Residents claim the streets were never sealed after the resurfacing. As a result, cars and golf carts are picking up the hot asphalt and leaving tread marks in painted driveways.
Sam Wartinbee, director of District Property Management, said they were aware of the problems and have the ponding, driveway repair and other issues on a punch list.
“It was the District Board decision to resurface all the roads in the villas in Districts 5 and 6 this fiscal year and into the next,” he said.
He also said that he doesn’t consider ponding in the roadway to be a flooding situation.
“Water going up to the houses is a flooding situation,” he said
Krizek said they never had water pooling prior to the work.
“We had beautiful streets. Now, since they resurfaced, we have standing water in the streets. It doesn’t even go into the drains. It sits for days in the middle of the roads until the sun finally dries it up,” Krizek said.
Residents said when Tropical Storm Colin went through last week, the water was deep by the stop sign leading out to Buena Vista Boulevard.
“You can see in the pictures where the white stains are on the road. That’s where the water pools and sits, even after a shower,” she said. “After the 3-4 inches of rainfall with the tropical storm, these streets sat with water for almost five days.”
Residents have also noticed an increase in mosquito activity in the neighborhood after heavy rains. With all the standing road water, it’s become a breeding ground, Krizek said.
Residents hope to see someone address the problems left behind by the company.
