DICKINSON, Texas – Freezing temperatures will just be adding to the misery for residents at a Dickinson apartment complex.
Tenants at Creekside Apartments on Deats Road have been without hot water for several weeks due to a broken boiler. The building standards committee was scheduled to hear from the building inspector Wednesday night to discuss next steps and the abatement plan.
For nearly two months, families living at the apartment complex have not had running hot water. In late November, tenants were given a 30-day notice by the city to move out of the complex due to unsafe living conditions — mainly the lack of a working boiler.
At least six tenants, with the help of Lonestar Legal Aid, have filed a joint $250,000 lawsuit against the property owner, citing health and safety issues.
Dickinson Mayor Sean Skipworth said council members recently voted to work with M.I. Lewis, a local charitable organization, to provide each eligible resident $1,000 to help with the sudden moving expenses.
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Ahmet Kalkan with Kalkan Capital, the property owners, said he wanted to use a temporary boiler to restore hot water to tenants, but the city would not allow it. Mayor Skipworth said the temporary boiler had a scratched out serial number and other deficiencies.
“We want everyone to be safe and warm, but the key is safe and warm. A boiler is very dangerous. It can be a bomb. It can explode. It can hurt people,” the mayor said.
Kalkan said they hired a new contractor and are in the process of pulling permits in order to make improvements, though the timeline would not benefit current residents. The property owner says he’ll share his detailed plan during Wednesday night’s meeting.
“I think there was a worry that the city was wanting to take over the property and have it demolished and repurposed but as I said we’ve successfully been able to sit down and come together and talk and we said that ‘look, if you want this property to be further improved, we are all about that,’” Kalkan said.
Mayor Skipworth said he’s indifferent whether the property owners choose to demolish the complex or renovate it, as long the property is safe.
“There’s been some encouraging signs but at the same time we are far into an original abatement process form several months ago and there is not any evidence of a tangible steps or even a plan to have been presented,” he said.
Creekside tenants have until the January 1, 2023 to move.