Scott Spilky thought he was doing a good deed when he called Kansas City's 3-1-1 to report a water line leak.
"I've always had a wet spot here, it's always been swampy," said the Waldo homeowner. "I don't think I should have to pay $2,000 that the city or its negligent contractors did to my property."
But Spilky's call to help the neighborhood could end up costing him.
"I can't believe they can do this to a private citizen - damage your personal property, cost thousands and have no accountability," Spilky said.
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He said the city or its contractors damaged his lawn when repairing the leak. When he discovered it was still unfixed, they came out again, this time cracking the curb.
When he asked Kansas City to pay for it, the water department had a shocking response.
"She said, 'well did you see someone drive over your lawn?'" Spilky said. "'I said, no i don't have a video camera but I know that I have lived here for six-and-a-half years. No one has ever driven over my lawn and it seems very suspicious that that would happen once I made a call to the city.'"
Especially, he said, because crews had previously damaged his lawn, owned up to it and made repairs when they ran over the same spot once before.
To make matters worse, Spilky said the leak is even worse than when the city initially came out. In some spots he has more than an inch of water flooding his lawn.
While city representatives refused on an camera interview, Chris Hernandez, the director of city communications, told 41 Action News in a statement that while it appears someone did drive through the homeowner's lawn, the city does not believe it was one of its crews.
"This claim was investigated," said the release. "However, it was denied because it was determined that the curb damage was not done by city trucks. Yes, crews were working in the area to repair a water main break. After that work was completed, crews restored the area by repaving areas that had been dug up, etc. This is standard procedure. If you have been to the area, you can see that it is a corner where it appears likely that cars cut short and run across the corner."
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
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