Gas back on at Schaumburg apartments

The threatened continued shutoff of natural gas to a 300-unit apartment complex in Schaumburg was reversed and all service restored Wednesday evening.

Twenty-four units at the Grand Vista of Schaumburg apartments -- formerly Schaumburg Villas at the southwest corner of Golf Road and Knollwood Drive -- had gas service shut off by Nicor Wednesday afternoon due to the alleged non-payment of bills by management.

But steps were subsequently taken by apartment management to restore service before the end of the day, Nicor spokeswoman Annette Martinez said.

Officials at the management office of the complex at 1010 Knollwood Drive declined to comment Wednesday on the advice of their legal counsel, they said.

But Nicor officials said they'd been reaching out and trying unsuccessfully to communicate with the management office since October.

"Our goal is always to help our customers maintain their service," Martinez said during the initial shutoff. "In this case, we've obviously exhausted all our avenues."

Before the situation was resolved, the village of Schaumburg had been red-tagging affected apartments to alert residents of the inconvenience they faced.

Village Manager Ken Fritz emphasized that the village was not evicting residents from their apartments, as the warmer weather prevented the gas shutoff from being a life-safety issue.

In fact, there's a moratorium for shutoff of gas service between Dec. 1 and April 1 each winter, even when nonpayment of bills is an issue, Martinez said.

Nevertheless, resident Debra Gonzalez said making it through even one night without hot water or the ability to cook in an apartment with four kids -- one of them a baby -- was not a prospect she was looking forward to.

Even Wednesday afternoon, however, Gonzalez said she was trying to reassure herself that the matter might be resolved quickly.

At the apartment complex, residents pay management for their gas service, which is then to be paid by management to Nicor.

Fritz said he didn't know all the details of the dispute but had heard the current management was still contesting an outstanding bill of more than $100,000 it had inherited from the previous management a year or two earlier.

"It's a civil issue between the landlord and Nicor," Fritz said.

Though all 300 units were intended to have their gas service shut off if the issue had lingered, only eight buildings of six units each were to be turned off on the first day, Martinez said.

But Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebl, who'd been monitoring the situation, said only four buildings were actually shut off before the situation was resolved.

He remained unsure, however, about how temporary that resolution might be.