Townhome owners vexed by flooding
Some people just north of Somers are confounded by recent flooding of their townhouses.
Seven of 16 units in the Southside Drive Townhomes were flooded in recent weeks, and the residents are trying to figure out why. Some of the two-story units were flooded on March 19. Others were flooded on March 31. Some were flooded both times.
The townhouses are located in four buildings behind the White Oak C-Mart gas station and convenience store and next to the Best Western White Oak Grand hotel. All are west of U.S. 93 South just north of Somers.
Robert Seymour lives in one Southside Drive unit with his wife, Kaori, and their five children. Kaori has been traveling to Seattle for chemotherapy treatments for leukemia.
Seymour said the homeowners association’s insurance will not cover the damages, and he wonders what to do next.
Marc Liechti owns APEC Engineering, which was hired by the Best Western to check into the situation. “We’re trying to take care of it, not just for him [Seymour], but for everybody,” Liechti said Thursday.
He said APEC would dig soon near a buried 12,000-gallon fire suppression tank next to the hotel.
Seymour said an APEC employee told him that the Best Western has 10 gallons per minute of water that is unaccounted for.
Liechti said that, at this point, he’s not sure what caused the flooding. Employees pumped out a retention pond between the hotel and townhomes twice so far, including on Saturday.
Liechti said the flooding could be a combination of spring runoff, rains and leaks from the water systems at the Best Western and the townhomes.
Wes Cruse, owner of Wesley Cruse Enterprises, operates the water systems for the Best Western, White Oak C-Mart and Southside Drive Townhomes.
“We are under the assumption that there might be a leak, but it’s not coming out of the ground,” he said Thursday. He noted that the Best Western and White Oak C-Mart used to be on the same system as Southside Drive Townhomes but later drilled a separate well. There is a connecting valve between the two water systems, he said, that enables the entities to use each other’s well as a backup.
“We have high ground water” here, Cruse said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with a leak. There’s more than one factor. We had an awfully wet winter.”
Whatever the cause, the flooding has been a major pain for the affected property owners, who have been struggling to get some relief along with some answers.
“On March 19, I received a call at work from my daughter that our downstairs townhome was flooding,” Seymour said. “I came home to find the carpet was saturated. Everything had to be moved upstairs to the garage or kitchen.”
The Townhome Assocation spent more than $1,500 to purchase a pump and hose to reduce the water level in the retention pond, Seymour said.
The Seymours ripped out their downstairs carpet and pumped water from noon on March 21 to 1 a.m. the next day. That process was repeated several times over the ensuing days.
At the time, Seymour said he and his children were pumping four to five inches of water a day out of their basement.
He has a concern about mold growing in the next-door unit because the owner is living in Utah. That unit has been for sale for two years, Seymour said.
Cammie Carter shares another townhome with her husband, Evan, and two small children.
“Water isn’t coming in any more,” she said Thursday. “But our downstairs is a disaster.”
To top things off, she gave birth to a baby the week before. They also have a 13-month-old child.
“I just stay away from the downstairs unless I have to do laundry,” she said.
Evan Carter said he tore out the downstairs carpet in one bedroom and used heat and a fan to dry the floor. He also removed some drywall and baseboards from the bedroom and put down a foam barrier on the floor. He will wait until summer to do any repairs, hoping that it doesn’t flood again until then.
Jackie Campbell was out of town on vacation when her townhome flooded. She spent 12 days in Arizona in March. She had a roommate living in the unit at the time, but she “freaked out and left,” said Campbell, who returned on March 24.
The unit was flooded again on March 31. Campbell was trying to dry the laminated flooring over that period of time, but finally gave up. She spent the weekend tearing out flooring and some drywall from a bedroom. “It impacted the whole downstairs,” she said.
Campbell purchased her townhome in August 2009. “There’s something obviously very, very wrong,” she said. “I don’t think it’s from snow melt or rain.”
Ken Knudson owns both White Oak C-Mart and Best Western. He could not be reached for comment and his daughter, Dorothy Knudson, manager of the Best Western, declined to comment.
Southside Drive Townhomes — each unit is 1,500 square feet — were built in 1977.
When the flooding first occurred earlier this year, the ground was frozen so nothing could be done, according to a townhome association representative who didn’t want to be identified.
“We knew something was leaking in the winter,” she said. “I encourage the home owners who are flooded to get together, write letters and seek legal counsel.” Homeowners’ insurance does not cover ground water, she said. “We don’t have a flood insurance policy because we’re not in a flood zone.”
The townhome owners were hit with a special improvement district assessment several years ago after their septic system failed. They were forced to join the Lakeside County Water and Sewer District at a cost of around $10,000 per unit, Seymour said. “Some moved out because they were foreclosed on and couldn’t pay,” he said.
The Seymours purchased their unit for $89,000 in 2009, while the Carters refinanced theirs for $73,548 in 2010. Evan Carter said he heard that two units sold earlier this year for $56,000 and $36,000. Both homes were foreclosures, according to information from the Flathead County Plat Room. One transferred for $56,000 on Feb. 16 while the other was recorded at $36,500 on March 11.
Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.