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Response to Complaint Filed with Tenant Union on Sep 7, 2007 by Ms Lindey Kublick
concerning Apt 2 at 104 S Grove, Urbana.

This complaint was filed as a result of the following urgencies which occurred at the building:

(a) The loss of electricity to the building due to a garage fire on the evening of Thurs Sep 6.
      Electricity was restored the next day.
(b) Damage to her entry doorjamb that occurred when firemen had to confirm that no burning 
    embers had spread to the building.  This was repaired the next day.  
(c) Basement gas line junctions failed a test by Ameren IP employees using an electric sensor on
    Friday Sep 7.  As explained below, this caused no danger to the tenants, and was
    corrected the same day.

Ms Kubrick's concern about communication with my maintenance person or myself
are attributable to her roommate, Mr. Trout, screaming and uttering profanities 
at my maintenance person during their initial phone conversation.

I am a bit confused by Ms Kublick's complaint, because (a) the emergency repairs were
handled in a responsible manner, and (b) her complaint was filed within less than
a minimal time necessary to make the needed emergency repairs.    Many property owners 
would have required two or three days to complete these emergency repairs
given similar circumstances.

Ms Kublick and her roommate have lived in the building since June and have not made
any repair requests to me.  Ms Kublick's complaint included reference to water leaks.
If Ms Kublick or her roommate are aware of water leaks,
they need to inform me of such.  Failure to do so would violate one of the clauses 
in their lease.   A defective shower faucet in one apartment,   
identified on approximately Sep 1 to be leaking water into an apartment below, 
was repaired on Sep 5.    A running toilet which has defied several repair attempts
is scheduled to be replaced Sep 10 or 11.

Ms Kublick and her roommate did not suffer any loss of pets or personal
property because of these incidents.

Also on Sep 7, Ms Kublick requested an inspection of her apartment and common areas
by City of Urbana staff.  I was unaware of this inspection until I received the 
report from the City of these on Thursday Sep 13.

Of the twenty items cited, most were routine maintenance items typically found
in older buildings, and of no consequence to the tenants.
The critical items (gas leaks, damaged door) were corrected on Friday Sep 7,
prior to my receiving either Ms Kublick's Tenant Union complaint or the City's report.
Most of the maintenance items were corrected within two weeks.
I have remained in constant contact with City staff concerning the scheduling
of all items on the list.    The city's report cited Ms Kublick's concern about
faulty wiring.  The description of the symptoms she related to me indicated that
she and her roommate had been placing too many electrical devices on 
one of the circuits.  The circuit breaker's tripping indicated its correct, safe  
operation.  I reported this to the City inspector.  He concurred that no action was 
required and removed the item concerning the wiring from the list. 
The city's list contained no reference to water leaks.


The rest of this document details the events of Sep 6 and Sep 7.

On Thursday Sep 6, I received a phone call around 7pm that the garage adjacent to the 
building had caught fire.     I arrived at the building several minutes later.   
The fire department was still present.    Electric service to the building was lost 
because the wire from the utility pole to the building 
passed above the garage.  I spoke with battalion commander who informed me that 
(a) he had already consulted by phone with Urbana's building inspection staff, 
    and that because there was no damage to the building or utility pole, 
    the power company could proceed to replace the downed line, 
(b) he had placed a service order with the power company to make the needed repairs, 
    and that they would be done if not that night, the next day.

From a converstion with another tenant, I took away the impression (obviously erroneously)
that Ms Kublick and her roommate were away and would not return until the next day.  

At around 9am the next morning Friday Sep 7, I received a call from 
Mr. Clay Baier, an Urbana building inspector, informing me that power could 
not be restored without first removing the remnant of the wire which had been providing electricity 
to the garage.   At 10am I met Mr. Baier and an electrician at the building, and 
this was taken care of before 11am.  A service request was resubmitted to Ameren IP. 

Also, when I arrived at 10am two Ameren employees who check for gas leaks were at the
building, because another tenant had reported smelling gas.  (This was unrelated to the fire.) 
The cause was an extinguished pilot light in her stove. Ameren, when called to a 
building to check a gas leak, uses an electronic sensor to test as many gas line 
junctions in the building as possible. Natural gas is odorless, and the gas odor 
is added so that people can smell a gas leak.  The "leaks" detected by the sensor 
are well below what a human can detect and well below what would pose danger. 
Gas lines operate at less than 2 pounds per square inch, but the sensors can detect 
a pipe junction that would fail at 20psi.    Many homes and buildings with piping older 
than 40 years would have one or more pipe junctions fail testing by this electronic 
sensor, yet pose no danger.    Per AmerenIP's procedure, the main gas valve to the 
building was shut until the junctions failing the sensor's test were upgraded.    
I had the Ameren employees show me the failing junctions, and signed that I had received 
the written descriptions from them.

A little past noon, I met the person who would repair Ms. Kublick's doorjamb, 
and now also be correcting the gas lines at the building. I pointed out to him 
all the gas pipe joints marked by the Ameren employees.  Ms. Kubrick's questioning
my concern with the gas problem is puzzling.

At around 1:15pm I met an Ameren electric lineman at the building.  
We found the main breaker, and I flipped it shut so the lineman could replace 
the downed power line. 

The doorjamb repair was completed by approximately 2pm.    

By approximately 4pm, the power line was installed, and I returned to the
 building to switch on the main breaker, restoring the buildings's electricity.  

The gas lines were repaired by 5pm.   A service call was placed to Ameren IP 
to check the repairs and to re-light all pilot lights in the building.

Ameren called me at around 7:15pm that a crew to check the gas line 
repairs would arrive shortly.    I met them at the building, the gas line 
repairs passed the sensor's scrutiny, the gas was turned on and I accompanied 
the Ameren employees through each apartment, to light the pilots on the stoves.

The preceding account indicates that collectively the repairs needed because of
the garage fire on the evening of Sep 6 and the gas line deficiencies
discovered the morning of Sep 7, were handled appropriately because all the 
necessary repairs were completed by the evening of Sep 7.   Many
property owners would have required two or three days given similar 
circumstances.