Hinesville family tired of dealing with sewage issue

HINESVILLE, Ga. (WTOC) - A Hinesville family is dealing with a sewage problem at their Shady Oaks mobile home, off Oglethorpe Highway.

WTOC received several reports from residents about the issue.

Chelsea Davis's kids and their cousins want to spend their summer outside playing tag.

“My kids are outside kids. It’s hard to keep them in a little two-bedroom trailer,” said Davis.

Unfortunately, for the past year, Davis and her three kids have been dealing with a stinky situation; literally.

“My 2-year-old has played in it a couple times and I had to ban them from going outside, which sucks,” Davis said.

A puddle of raw sewage, along with toilet paper debris, sits on the side of Davis's trailer. The swarm of flies is hard to miss.

“I’ve started to get little cockroaches. I’ve been trying to...I baited my house,” she said.

The stench is unbearable. So much so, Davis keeps windows and doors shut, relying on fans to keep her family cool, as her AC unit is also broken.

Davis said she's had four landlords since moving to Shady Oaks and told each of them about the issues, and nothing has been done.

WTOC tried to talk to management at the leasing office and no one answered. A note was written and dropped in the slot box. The number was also called listed on the Shady Oaks Facebook page and an email was sent. WTOC has yet to hear from anyone.

According to City of Hinesville, code enforcement gets involved once a complaint is received.

The statement says they will, “begin by contacting the property manager to see if any work orders related to the issue. From there we work with the resident and property manager toward a resolution.”

Davis didn't know she could do this and said she will be filing a formal complaint.

WTOC’s Amanda Aguilar learned a code enforcement officer visited Davis’s home late Thursday afternoon to check out the sewage issue. Davis said the officer told her that he’d be giving management a notice and timeframe to get the issue fixed. According to the officer, management can get three notices and if nothing is fixed, it will head to court.

WTOC will continue to follow this story and post updates as soon as more information becomes available.

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