GARDNER, Ks. — Last week, Aspen Place Apartments were condemned by the City of Gardner, forcing more than a hundred families from their homes.
Former residents say they saw it coming. Over the last year, they report multiple days without water.
"I just felt hopeless," said Delbert Bailey, a former resident. He’s 70 years old and disabled.
"We kept getting water leaks after water leaks," Bailey said.
"It was a domino effect," said Bailey’s former neighbor, Cristy Mueller.
She has been living through days filled with emotions. Her husband had quadruple bypass heart surgery the day before the notices were posted, and her daughter just had a baby.
“Very overwhelming,” Mueller said.
She has been living at Aspen Place Apartments since the summer of 2024 and says she has had many days without water.
The city of Gardner was aware of the situation.
The last straw, according to city officials, was when a fire truck fell through the street.
“After inspecting the road and determining that fire apparatus could no longer reliably respond to emergency medical or fire calls, it became an emergency life-safety issue and led to the city’s action to condemn the property,” wrote the city’s spokesperson.
They stated that when the final notice was sent, there was also no water service to the property, and the week prior, raw sewage was being pumped into the street, a violation for which the owners were cited.
This is why, the city says, they ordered residents to vacate the apartments within 48 hours, but according to city officials, the situation began 16 months ago.
We obtained documents from the City of Gardner through records requests.
They show the owners of Aspen Place Apartments, KDR Realty, have been notified about safety concerns since January 2024.
According to the city, there have been six notices of violation, for a total of 30 violations of the International Property Maintenance Code, six City Code violations, and notices to appear in Municipal Court.
Besides KDR Realty LLC, the names of Puneet Gorawara and Sabha Gorawara also appear on the documents.
Also, according to the city, KDR Realty's owners have received a notice to appear in Municipal Court for nine separate violations.
Those include trash, sewer systems, leaking sewage onto roadways, standing sewage, roadway maintenance, unsafe plumbing/equipment, structures unfit for human occupancy, land maintenance for their trees, sanitary drainage systems, and water systems.
The city says they were also cited by Johnson County Fire District #1 for violating the fire code, with nine different violations noted.
"They've known this was a problem for years," said Micah Norman, who lived there before and was offering supportto her former neighbors the day after they received the notices.
In each instance, the City of Gardner gave KDR Realty a different deadline to fix the issues.
According to Jeffrey Zimmerman, the lawyer representing KDR Realty, the landlord fixed the problems "as they became apparent."
"Their problem was not fixing things like they should have," Bailey said.
Muller claimed the company just kept putting Band-Aids on the problems at the complex.
Zimmerman stated the owners attempted to repair the leaking water lines, but determined that a complete overhaul of the water system was necessary.
“The current owners bought the project in 2022. It became clear that the aged water system was failing,” wrote Zimmerman.
He also stated that the owners attempted to repair the leaking water lines when the leaks occurred, but ultimately "determined that a complete overhaul of the water system was necessary and engaged engineers to draw plans for replacement.”
According to Zimmerman, the plans are expected to be complete by May 23 and will be presented to city officials for review and approval.
"We are moving forward to overhaul the water system as soon as possible and hope to rehouse those tenants who wish to return,” Zimmerman said.
“We believe the waterline that was damaged by the city’s fire truck could have been repaired temporarily, so that the tenants would not need to vacate, but the City would not permit a temporary fix,” Zimmerman said. “We believe they were concerned that the impact of the truck may have the danger of causing contamination from substances that had built up in the pipes over the years to break loose in the system."
Casey Johnson is an attorney offering legal advice to Aspen Place residents.
"They've been having water issues for many years, including sewage backups into their dishwashers," Johnson said. "Some have experienced flooding in their apartments.”
Johnson says a lawsuit might be filed soon against the landlords. They are still trying to determine if the city could be legally liable.
“Ethically and morally liable, certainly in some cases, but whether they have legal liability or are immune from suit in this case, we don't know yet,” Johnson said. "We're trying to get a better idea of how widespread this issue was."
For now, former residents are focusing on the present—dealing with their emotions and slowly figuring out the next steps.
“It's been hell. In all honesty, it really has," Mueller said.
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