Water finally restored at Hamilton apartment building after 86 days

Eighty-six days.

That's how long it took for residents living in a derelict Hamilton apartment building to finally be able to see water come out of their dry sinks and shower heads.

Running water was restored at 1083 Main St. E. on Friday afternoon for the first time since late December, bringing an end to a months-long saga that saw tenants live off delivered jugs of water.

I kind of thought we might not ever see this day again the way it was going," longtime tenant David Galvin said. A happy day, a very exciting day, but I think we're all disgruntled it took this long."

Indeed, before Friday, the 70-year-old and his few neighbours had been without water since Dec. 28, when a winter storm burst pipes and prompted his landlord to cut off taps in the mostly vacant 60-unit building.

A notice to tenants at the time from the landlord's paralegal, Angela Smith, said the bad weather caused extensive damage and expanded the already massive scope of work" planned for the building. It would take at minimum" four weeks for a temporary solution" to restore water.

Nonetheless, the city ordered the landlord to fix the issue by Jan. 24 - a deadline that passed with no action.

An appeal from Smith on behalf of her client at a property standards committee almost a month later ended with an agreement that the building needed to be vacant before water repairs were made.

The decision sparked outrage from tenants and city councillors, who directed staff to proactively monitor and ensure sufficient supply of safe potable water is provided." By March 6, city staff had delivered 650 jugs of water to the tenants with an associated cost of more than $16,000, a figure that included staff time and vehicle usage.

As tenants went on without water, they faced another tall task: thwarting eviction attempts.

Two of them succeeded in that effort March 9 after the building's landlord, 1083 Main Street Inc., withdrew their N13 applications at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Five other tenants still have pending N13 cases before the provincial tribunal.

It's unclear what prompted the landlord to restore water in the sprawling Delta-area building Friday. Smith didn't respond to The Spectator's request for comment. The city's property committee also still had a few weeks before reconvening to set a timeline for repairs.

While glad he can take a shower and wash dishes, Galvin said the return of water to his apartment shouldn't be a celebration.

There's a lot of accountability that has to occur from the city for this," he said. They botched this whole thing from the start.

To think in a major city like Hamilton, in this day and age, that you can go so long without water, with a landlord making chumps of us all and with the city not doing anything about it ... It's incredible."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com