Residents at Village Green hold prayer vigil over water dispute

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- The Village Green Community gathered to hold a prayer vigil in hopes that they will have water after May 1.

The owner of the Village Green Community owes the city of Mishawaka more than $200,000 in unpaid water bills with the deadline to pay quickly approaching and people living there are fearing the worst.

“There's 300 or 400 families out here and we are all in danger of losing our homes,” said Carol Ellis, resident of Village Green.

The City of Mishawaka says it will shut off water at Village Green on May 1 if the water bill is not paid.

The owner of the mobile home community has not paid the water bill since last year even though the residents paid their portion.

Ellis says she doesn't know what she'll do if the water is shut off.

“Some people are moving their trailers, some people just have nowhere else to go and I guess they're gonna try and live out here anyway they can. Collecting water at the lake for toilets or going to Kroger and buying water for drinking and cooking. We just don't know,” she said.

Village Green owners and the city are in negotiations to settle the bill but according to neighbors, the owners have been saying that for months.

With the deadline looming, community memebers threatened to stop paying their rent and village green responded with a threat to evict them.

We've reached out to the owners of Village Green for an official response but they haven't responded.