ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A $100 million fiber optic internet expansion in St. Pete is frustrating homeowners, saying crews installing the cables are damaging their property. One family waited for months to get reimbursed for a ruptured sewer line but after we reached out to the contractor, the subcontractor that dug the line called her to say they’ll make it right. But for the Lewis family, it wasn’t about the money so much as accountability.
Almost three months ago, Jennifer Lewis says a crew installing a fiber optic high-speed internet cable showed up on her front lawn and dug two holes on her property line, feeding the cable underground. But soon after, a landscaper told her part of her driveway was loose.
“My husband came out and touched the paver to check on it,” she says. “And [the ground collapsed] and he said it smells like sewage…