SAN ANTONIO — For almost a month, one San Antonio woman has been dealing with a damaged sprinkler system and an angled wooden pole in her front yard. Kathie Love stressed it was difficult getting satisfactory answers from anyone.
“I called SAWS, I called CPS (Energy). Nobody could tell me anything,” Love said.
Love left town the last weekend of October to celebrate her granddaughter’s birthday in Utah. She came home to quite the surprise.
“I saw this huge giant pole buried in the middle of my yard and then another pole bolted to it. The yard was torn up, the PVC pipe was laying in the yard, which was evident that the sprinkler system had been damaged,” Love said.
Love filed claims with the City of San Antonio, San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) and CPS Energy. But she wasn’t successful in getting concrete answers.
“I just I guess naively I thought they’ll own up to it and they’ll take care of it and when that didn’t happen that’s when I became frustrated,” Love said.
It wasn’t until Love called KENS 5 when CPS Energy and SAWS began acting more quickly to address Love’s claims.
SAWS spokeswoman Ann Hayden emailed KENS 5 noting crews responded to a water main break on the site Oct. 28. A claim adjustor has been assigned to investigate damages to Love’s irrigation system. Liability and repair damage estimates will be determined soon.
“As you know, it’s been a challenging summer, and SAWS like other water utilities across the nation has been experiencing very high levels of main breaks. I’m sorry Ms. Love is experiencing challenges in this situation. An adjustor will be with her soon,” Hayden said.
CPS Energy spokeswoman Dominique Ramos provided an emailed statement in response to KENS 5’s inquiry into Love’s concerns.
“CPS Energy installed shoring poles to support the existing utility pole while the water main was being repaired as a safety measure. This shoring work did not cause any damage to Ms. Love’s irrigation system. CPS Energy’s Claims department has been in contact with Ms. Love and informed her of these details. We do owe Ms. Love a timeline on when the shoring will be removed. We are currently tracking that information down and will provide her with that information once we have it. Thank you for reaching out to us on this issue,” Ramos said.
CPS Energy crews removed the pole Monday afternoon shortly after KENS 5’s interview with Love.
Love now waits for SAWS’s verdict on repair costs to her sprinkler system and whether she will be liable for the damages.
“I’m a retired school teacher so I am on a fixed income and this is not an expense I was planning right before Christmas,” said Love.