ATLANTA — A southwest Atlanta homeowner says his family took out a loan for thousands of dollars to repair damage he blames on city workers during a stormwater drain project, and he says they have yet to be reimbursed.
Wilbert Allen said he borrowed $7,500 to restore his home’s electrical system after it was damaged during work by Atlanta Watershed Management crews.
He told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln that the work was tied to repairs on a collapsed stormwater drain near his property.
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“We had to take out a loan to have our electric lines and everything hooked back up,” Allen said.
Allen said the issues began about five years ago and have dragged on without resolution.
“It makes me feel so disgusted, simply because it’s been five years now,” he said.
Allen lives at the home with his 89-year-old wife.
He said crews first damaged his fence after a tree fell on his property during the repair work.
“It decreases the value of my property,” Allen said. “It makes my neighbors pass by and wonder what’s going on — my property used to be kept up.”
He said the damage escalated days later when a bulldozer knocked down power lines, disrupting electricity to the home and damaging the electrical system.
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“When they knocked the power out, my garage door wouldn’t go up, which meant I couldn’t get in the house,” Allen said.
Allen said he has spent years going back and forth with the city, including multiple meetings that were later canceled. He said communication stopped altogether after his family requested nearly $60,000 to cover repairs, compared with the city’s reported offer of $32,000.
“If it’s legal matters or whatever, you should have been able to at least get back to us,” he said.
Allen said the last time he heard from the city was in August.
“I don’t know how I’m going to get it back together again,” he said. “It’d be different if I was a rich man.”
The City of Atlanta told Lincoln that it was looking into Allen’s claims.
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