Bowen says crews set a dumpster against a pole, which bent back and split the fence. They also put the dumpster on top of his water valve, which blocked access, and they cracked the concrete. After his first call to the city, crews moved the dumpster.
The damage kept coming. The city told Bowen to trim a tree hanging over his fence, and he did. Crews still scraped the dumpster down the bark and hit the pole, which split the top cap in half. Bowen reported it again and says the Solid Waste Department promised to replace the cap and straighten the pole. Instead, he says, crews screwed the cap back together.
Bowen got two fence companies to assess the damage. One quoted $2,000 to replace the fence, and the other quoted $3,000. He says his family cannot keep paying for repairs, and he worries the same thing will happen again after a fix. When we asked the Solid Waste Department for an interview about its repairs process, it sent a list of instructions. Bowen's city councilman is David Bruegel, who represents District 3.
For now, Bowen has a split fence and one question he keeps asking: will the crews ever get more careful?