GERMANTOWN — Amy Willard's basement sits empty — no drywall, no belongings — as she waits to see if her elected leaders will act to prevent sewage from flooding her home a third time.
Willard and about 20 other Germantown residents attended the Village Department of Public Works Committee meeting, demanding the village take action to prevent sewage backup during heavy rains. Community members described $90,000 in repairs, being dropped by their insurance companies, and basements flooded with sewage — twice in the past year, once in August and again in April.
"I don't think you really understand it until you've been through it," Willard said.
Other residents described the ongoing stress of living with the threat of flooding.
"The past few years have been a living hell for us. Every time it rains, we are having a heart attack," a Germantown resident said. "Who's responsible for it? And you're telling me there's no corrective action that you can take?"
Older community members raised concerns about their health and their ability to manage sewage backups they had never experienced before this past year.
The Department of Public Works investigated the cause and said its pump stations were not the problem. Officials said a combination of heavy rain, power outages, and the time of year created a perfect storm that caused the backup.
"If we would've had this rain event in June, July or during a dry period of time in the year, we wouldn't have seen these results," DPW Director Tim Zimmerman said.
Residents rejected that explanation and called on the village to do more.
"This is an emergency," Paul Spitz said. "This is not a wish list, should have and a like to have. That phase two needs to be phase now."
The committee apologized and listened to hours of feedback. Officials said they will look into the drains and pump station upgrades. Willard said if concrete changes do not happen, residents will consider legal action.
"Things that we've saved for years? They're gone," she said. "I can't replace that. As you know, my daughter passed away. A lot of her things were in the basement — it all had to be tossed. I won't ever get that back and I won't ever get her back."
The committee hopes to bring back more information for constituents in June.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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