COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of Columbia is suing the The Colony Apartments over last winter's water line breaks and gas leaks that ultimately led to an evacuation of the units.
The city's suit was filed in Richland County court this week and asks for over $52,000 to recover the costs the city said it spent dealing with the situation that happened at the units, located on West Beltline Boulevard. They also want a judge to order that the apartments' owners maintain the apartments to comply with all city safety rules and regulations.
The city said back in early December of 2022, there were leaks in the water supply lines that go to the Colony. But according to the lawsuit, the leaks got worse when the pipes were exposed to temperatures well below freezing in late December, eventually leading to over 300,000 gallons of water leaking a day.
The city said the leaks also affected the steam heating system, which meant that about 300 units didn't have water nor heat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Eventually residents reached out to city leaders on December 27. When the city went out there, they said they found problems with the water pipes that were maintained by the property management, not the city. The city said they found some residents were heading their homes with ovens and stoves.
But according to the lawsuit, the city had difficulty reaching the property's owners and corporate managers. They said the on-site management seemed "ill-prepared and ill-equipped to handle the situation," according to the lawsuit
The city at that point made the decision to evacuate the residents over the conditions. They also then brought in their own workers to make the repairs to the water and heating system.
The lawsuit claims that same day, the Monroe Group, one of the corporate property managers, then began talking with city officials and brought in their staff to help the situation. As News19 previously reported, management did pay for the residents to stay in hotels while they were displaced.
The city said an inspection of the units found natural gas leaks and no smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors in some units.
The city said they spent a total of $52,129.10 on the repairs, the cost of evacuation, and other expenses related to the problem.