[chiquita_bandita]

The town I live in began a water line update a little over 2 months ago. This includes taking out/replacing of the old water mains and updating the water lines going to each house from the main. Of course, they began this project on my street. In these 2 months, they have only gone about 2 blocks, as they were not working regularly and I don't think they were professionals really.

Well, I found out formally that the crew quit (after not showing up for weeks) and the mayor stepped down due to this fiasco.

My street and my yard have been all dug up and just left, with gaping holes, uneven dirt, and gashes across the road. Due to the dug up part of my yard, water has been pooling (it's been flooding in my state for about the same 2 months now). My water line and meter is completely exposed, gaping hole in my yard and some big metal thing they dug up is sitting in my yard. My neighbors have the same holes and exposed lines.

I was getting mad about this about a month ago, and no progress has been made since then. Now that the crew has quit and there is no mayor, I'm guessing it will be even longer until this is finished up. It's really getting ridiculous and it's dangerous for people and cars (these holes and gashes across the road aren't marked off at all). I fell into the hole in my yard while retreiving my trash can one night, though luckily I wasn't hurt.

Do I have any rights here, say to get this stuff fixed in a timely manner? And if this water keeps pooling, who is responsible for any damages to my property? Would the town have to compensate me and my neighbors for necessary repairs and safety measures we are going to have to take (when the crew quit, they took all their fences, signs etc. though many of the dangerous areas were not ever marked off).

[LadyB]

I would call your county and ask them. Usually towns aren't solely responsible for such matters.