THE PROBLEM -- Water leaking from a manhole cover puddles and freezes in an Owings Mills intersection, despite numerous calls for repairs.
THE BACKSTORY -- Max Wolfthal is frustrated.
He wrote to Watchdog after repeatedly calling the Baltimore City Department of Public Works over seven months in an effort to get a leaking manhole cover fixed.
The problem began nearly three years ago at Reisterstown Road and Village Queen Drive. The bubbling-up of water caused the manhole cover to sink by about 7 inches, prompting the county Department of Public Works to come out and elevate it.
"I just got passed back and forth so many times," said Wolfthal, a member of the board of the Queen Anne Village homeowners association. "Everybody keeps telling me they're going to call you back the next day. Well, they sent somebody back to look at it, but the water just runs."
In June, he said, he called the city about the recurring leak, and it was repaired. But the manhole cover started leaking again in mid-October.
It's especially frustrating during dry spells, when residents are urged to conserve water.
"They're just transferring it from the Loch Raven Reservoir to the Inner Harbor by way of the storm drain," Wolfthal said.
On Dec. 10, he said, he was told it would be a five-day turnaround. On Dec. 18, Wolfthal said, he called again and heard that the leaking manhole cover was a major job that workers would get to within a few days.
When Wolfthal called to report freezing water, he said, a county employee suggested throwing down some salt.
"I really took offense to that because it's their leak, it's their water, it's our property," he said.
When nothing happened, he stepped up his efforts, calling every number he could find.
Baltimore's Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining the 3,400 miles of water lines in both the city and Baltimore County, said Kurt Kocher, a spokesman for the city department.
Maintenance crews went out in June and December to repair what turned out to be a leaky water valve, Kocher said. Then Wolfthal reported it again in January.
"After the first two times, it was put in for a longer-range project," Kocher said, because at this time of year emergency water main breaks are a higher priority. This not-so-urgent valve was awaiting a spring contract, he said, but Kocher said the department plans to address the problem by the end of the month.
WHO CAN FIX THIS -- Bryan Samuels, acting head of the Bureau of Water and Wastewater, Baltimore Department of Public Works. City residents can call 311 to report problems. Baltimore County residents should use 410-396-5352.
UPDATE
The pedestrian crossing signals at Saratoga and Paca streets near Lexington Market have been repaired. The lights had shorted out because of a leaky steam conduit that was fixed in December, but a water main break in the area this month had delayed repair of the signal, said Adrienne Barnes, spokeswoman for the Baltimore Department of Transportation.