MCPS damages neighbors property, so taxpayers will pay

As a follow up to the recent news about the Cabin John Middle School surprise "Wall" that is now going to be reconfigured after community protests, take a look at the damage MCPS did when constructing the Bells Mill Elementary School. 


Who is paying for all this damage and these construction "surprises?" You are - the taxpayers. 


Potomac Almanac: Good Neighbor
MCPS says it is willing to mend the damage done to neighboring properties during school construction.

...Officials from Montgomery County Public Schools say they are willing to take responsibility for damage to landscape, sod and drainage problems caused by the construction project that several nearby property owners were unhappy with from the beginning.

Hideko Takahashi’s home is so close to Bells Mill that her wooden fence technically stands on school property. But the fence posts alongside Takashi’s cypress landscaping have been damaged and the grass uprooted, leading to complications with water run-off in her yard. Takahashi said she repeatedly approached MCPS with a "break it — buy it" mentality.

"They should respect your property," said Takahashi...

..."They know my requests are reasonable," said Jorge Cardona, whose property parallels the school and consequently suffered water damage to his yard and flooding in his basement. Cardona has been living in his home for 27 years and said he never saw a drop of water on the interior until construction on the new school began.

"It came from the school in droves," said Cardona, referring to the water run-off that forced him to replace the tile flooring in his basement. But Cardona described MCPS officials as receptive to evaluating his property damage that resulted from the construction...

...SUCH DAMAGE was among the concerns voiced by several Bells Mill neighbors who opposed the construction project before it began early last year. The neighbors said they were not able to dissuade the county’s school system from progressing with their chosen design, which was intended originally for a property on Kendale Road and then was subsequently relocated to the smaller Bells Mill site when the Kendale plan was abandoned in the face of public resistance...