The south suburban Village of Homewood agreed on Friday to pay the remainder of a bill issued to a family that saw its life savings wiped out after a sewer pipe collapsed under their home.
On Wednesday, NBC 5's Chris Hush shared the story of the Pinto's -- who were left with a $29,000 bill after the pipe collapse on Dec. 30. NBC 5 Responds initially reached out to the village on Wednesday and was told the collapsed pipe that connects to the village's main line was a private pipe, meaning it was the homeowner's responsibility.
"We couldn’t get anybody to do anything," Blake Pinto said. "So, a lot of the things we were able to initially save, got wiped out and it feels like it was unnecessary."
Several strangers stepped in and raised thousands of dollars to help the family.
In a statement to NBC 5 Responds on Friday, the Village of Homewood said Public Works employees discovered portions of the village's sewer main, where the homeowners’ private sewer line connects to the sewer, are damaged.
The statement added that the village will incur the costs of repairs to the sewer main and portions of homeowners' sewer lines.
Pinto said Homewood officials told him the village would cover the remaining $19,000 of the bill, and the cost to to repair six other pipes that were found to be in bad shape.
