PLEASANT GROVE, Utah -- A sewage leak nearly ruined stacks of evidence in Pleasant Grove's Public Safety Building Wednesday night.
The police chief said it was a close call, which reignites an old debate over whether the city needs a new building for the police and fire departments. City residents recently voted against a bond that would have paid for a new facility.
The leak happened Wednesday night, but the police department says similar problems have been happening for years--and it's yet another example of why something needs to change here now.
“I was in here at my desk…I felt this gush of water, and I look down--it's all brown,” said Linda Chipman, who was at her spot in the boiler room when things got messy.
“This drain was totally full, actually, it looked like a toilet,” Chipman said.
The evidence technician was able to clear out the area before anything was ruined, but the mess here started long ago, according to Chief Michael Smith of Pleasant Grove PD.
“This has happened several times over the past years,” Smith said.
For the last couple years, the police and fire departments have called for new facilities, arguing theirs are outdated and lack sufficient space.
But in 2013 and 2014, voters rejected two multi-million dollar bond proposals that would have used a property tax to pay for new buildings.
“We have run out of space to the point that we have put our evidence room in a boiler room,” Smith said. “…It is an injustice to the victims of the crimes that that evidence represents for their cases that it’s not protected better. But at this time, we have nowhere else to put it.”
While no evidence was damaged, Chipman’s shoes did not fare so well and were ruined in the leak.
So, her friends have started a GoFundME page to help buy her some new ones. At last check, they had raised a couple hundred dollars, more than needed for their goal.
