Company taking over sewer maintenance after abandoning some Foothills customers

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Foothills Utilities announced on Monday it will be taking over maintenance of a sewer system it abandoned several months ago.

This after over 100 residents of one Foothills neighborhood spoke out, upset over the change.

Foothills Utilities put this letter on the gates of homes in El Rancho Encantado back in October, saying the company is no longer responsible for the maintenance of the sewer systems in this neighborhood. 

“That was wrong. They didn’t send a letter to us, they just put a notice on our gates and a lot of people were gone at that time and the letters blew off their gate so they didn’t even know about this until their neighbors told them,” said longtime resident, Larry Nelms.

Nelms said this affected 281 property owners, meaning between 500 to 1,000 people living in these homes were abandoned by the utility company. 

“If you don’t have the system, then you don’t have a sewer system. You don’t have a toilet, you don’t have a shower or you don’t have a sink,” said Nelms.

More than 100 neighborhood residents met with Yuma County Supervisor Darren Simmons to find a solution to the problem.

“It’s not fair to these people to all of the sudden have this dumped on them as far as Foothills Utilities telling them it’s their problem now when clearly the system since 2014 has been the responsibility of the utility,” said Simmons.

Now, three months later, Foothills Utilities announces it will be taking over the maintenance of the sewer system beginning Monday.

Adding it will reimburse all residents for the money they spent maintaining the systems since October.