ELGIN, Texas — Some Elgin residents said the City added insult to injury when notifying them about how to deal with damage from last week's tornadoes.
However, Elgin Mayor Ron Ramirez said the notification process didn't go the way it was supposed to.
"I feel bad because we're trying to help," Ramirez said.
Just outside of the Elgin city limits, Chris and Davina Cielencki and a few of their neighbors received a letter from the City attached with photos of their homes. The letter stated they needed to get a permit to demolish the home within 30 days and have it demolished within 60 days.
"It basically said our house is unsafe, unsanitary, a public and attractive nuisance under their city code and I just broke down in tears pretty much," Davina Cielencki said.
According to Mayor Ramirez, the letter was a mistake. He said the letter was a template that wasn't edited correctly before it was sent out.
"The letter had somewhat, could be considered brash or uncaring remarks about 'You got to get this fixed or we're going to demolish your house,' and, of course, the City of Elgin is not going to do any such things," Ramirez said.
The City drafted new letters on Friday and hand-delivered them to four residents.
"We corrected the letter, we let them know that we're going to waive building permit fees, we're going to work with you," Ramirez said.
The tornado was already a traumatic experience and this situation added a lot of uncertainty for the Cielencki's and their neighbors.
"My anxiety was through the roof," Davina Cielencki said.
"Before you send anything out, you need to proofread stuff," Chris Cielencki said. "Changes people's lives in the blink of an eye, they think their house is going to be getting bulldozed."
As the debris slowly gets picked up, people are making do with what they still have.
"It's not unlivable, we're living in it. It's not unsanitary. We have running water, we have electricity. It's not falling down on us," Davina Cielencki said.
Mayor Ramirez said that should have never happened.
"I'm apologizing now as well because if I was a homeowner who had my home damaged or destroyed, I would be very upset if I got that letter. And so it certainly wasn’t meant to convey that from the City," Ramirez said.
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