BAKERSFIELD, CA -- After days of doubt, a local non-profit preschool will be able to open its doors Tuesday. Parents have been working to fix a sewage problem that cost the co-op thousands of dollars and the city says it will only reimburse a fraction of that.
The Bakersfield Play Center has been open since 1952 and the plumbing is dated. When parents learned the sewage line they thought was connected to the city actually wasn't, they took matters into their own hands.
Parent volunteers put the finishing touches on what has been a dirty project at the Bakersfield Play Center.
Three weeks ago, Union Pacific told the preschool it would be capping the railroad's sewage line across the street.
"We thought it was kind of odd that Union Pacific let us know that but come to find out after we did all the research we weren't connected to the city, our sewer was not connected to the city," said Angie Esparza, director of the Bakersfield Play Center.
It turns out the school was connected to a septic tank in the railroad yard.
"We can't let them cap our line because everything's going to come up and that's the end of our school," Esparza said.
Over the weekend parents dug trenches and worked to connect the school's sewage line to the city's.
"And it literally goes to our backyard but they just never hooked it up at any point in time," said parent volunteer Edward Wilson.
For the last 17 years, the Bakersfield Play Center has been paying more than $200 annually to be connected to the city sewer line. But the city says it can only reimburse the school for up to four years of sewage cost.
"It's just troubling that they only want to give us a fraction of the money that is owed to us but not only that that we can utilize to make our school better," Wilson said.
The do-it-yourself project cost the school $7000. The preschool operates on about $10,000 a month and their savings account has been depleted. On Monday, only half of the plumbing was working, but the school will be open on Tuesday.
The city says it will use the school's previous sewer use fees toward a credit for a connection fee which costs about three thousand dollars.
The Bakersfield Play Center has been open since 1952 and the plumbing is dated. When parents learned the sewage line they thought was connected to the city actually wasn't, they took matters into their own hands.
Parent volunteers put the finishing touches on what has been a dirty project at the Bakersfield Play Center.
Three weeks ago, Union Pacific told the preschool it would be capping the railroad's sewage line across the street.
"We thought it was kind of odd that Union Pacific let us know that but come to find out after we did all the research we weren't connected to the city, our sewer was not connected to the city," said Angie Esparza, director of the Bakersfield Play Center.
It turns out the school was connected to a septic tank in the railroad yard.
"We can't let them cap our line because everything's going to come up and that's the end of our school," Esparza said.
Over the weekend parents dug trenches and worked to connect the school's sewage line to the city's.
"And it literally goes to our backyard but they just never hooked it up at any point in time," said parent volunteer Edward Wilson.
For the last 17 years, the Bakersfield Play Center has been paying more than $200 annually to be connected to the city sewer line. But the city says it can only reimburse the school for up to four years of sewage cost.
"It's just troubling that they only want to give us a fraction of the money that is owed to us but not only that that we can utilize to make our school better," Wilson said.
The do-it-yourself project cost the school $7000. The preschool operates on about $10,000 a month and their savings account has been depleted. On Monday, only half of the plumbing was working, but the school will be open on Tuesday.
The city says it will use the school's previous sewer use fees toward a credit for a connection fee which costs about three thousand dollars.