CINCINNATI — One month ago, some North Avondale residents were scrambling to raise $326,000 in just 30 days to fix a landslide problem in their neighborhood.
Now, city officials have granted them 90 more days. But the Wess Park Drive residents said the extra time still might not be enough to help them get back on their feet.
One home has already been demolished. The house and crumbling garage were carted off in four truckloads. Timothy Lane lives next door to the now-demolished home.
"We are missing a neighbor that we had at that point in time because of the landslide," he said.
Lane said he's noticed the hill moving closer to his home. So have his neighbors, Richard and Maria McKenzie.
"This thing was buckled up ... yesterday and we had to smash it down with a sledgehammer and replace it with gravel," Richard McKenzie said.
Maria McKenzie said having to pay for the landslide fix is like having to pay for a car, a house and a college education all together. So far, the homeowners have raised close to $30,000. They're worried they won't get the rest in time.
"The whole thing is very stressful and things don't stay still," Richard McKenzie said. "The land doesn't stay still and our stress levels don't stay still."
The neighbors said they're frustrated that the city has been giving so much attention to landslides on Columbia Parkway.
"You know allow the city to make everything right for the Columbia Parkway landslide," Lane said. "Why is it that you can't do the same thing here? It is because we don't matter? Of course we matter."
The residents asked that anyone who can donates to the Wess Park Landslide Donation Fund.
"We cannot just leave," Lane said. "We have mortgages on our home. We can't sell our houses because they're not worth anything because the land is coming towards them."
