JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Kevin and Angela Bowden have lived in their Northwest Jacksonville home more than 15 years. They say the last four months have been the most troubling.
"If this was maintained properly over the years this erosion would never have happened," Kevin Bowden said.
Their home is a few feet from a city owned ditch that is rapidly eroding. Now the foundation of their home has shifted and it is sinking.
"I can't sleep. It is very stressful," Angela Bowden said.
In October they notified the City of Jacksonville about the erosion and its impact on their foundation.
"We've noticed side of our house has cracks and it is starting to move our home," she said.
They say the city has been slow to respond to their concerns.
"The ditch is just getting worse and worse," he said.
Now they're in jeopardy of losing their homeowner's insurance. Their insurance company wants the problem fix, it is not covered under their policy, or they will be canceled.
"They know there's a problem and it needs to get done," Angela Bowden said. "it should have been done along time ago."
A grainy cell phone video shows a torrential flow of water running over the ditch on rainy days.
"This has gotten a lot worse than it was four months ago," Kevin said.
In November, the city's risk management office blamed the condition on Hurricane Irma and refused to help.
But Kevin and Angela Bowden say it was a problem before the storm and the city should bear some of the costs to repair if not all of it.
"They just don't want to own up to poorly maintaining their ditch," he said.
The issue is in Councilman Reggie Brown's district. His staff said they filed a claim with risk management in January and its in progress.
The family took to Facebook to express their frustrations and they reached out to the On Your Side Team.
It is generating attention if not results.
On Friday, a public works employee inspected the drainage ditch and promised a solution to the erosion in two weeks.
The question that lingers is will the city help with the repair of the foundation that is sinking?
The city's risk management will use the public works assessment to make that decision.
