Tempers were quite hot on Ebony Street today between two feuding neighbors.
They have a long-standing dispute but it came to head when one neighbor started working on his fiberglass skiff boat. The dust from the work became a health risk and unbearable for Audrey Encalada and she called the 7NEWS team who left the scene with the problem solved.
Audrey Encalada, Bothered by Fiberglass
{Showing red spots on back to camera] "Watch the back of my back here, you know he has to move from there. Something has to be done about this guy."
This morning Audrey Encalada called the 7NEWS team to her Ebony Street home where she said the sanding of this fiberglass skiff was literally making her family sick. Audrey says for the past week their skin has been itching, she claims the fiberglass spores have left her furniture covered with silt, and her tolerance for it is well, gone.
Audrey Encalada,
"On like Tuesday or Wednesday I was congested you know because of all the dust and everything going upstairs and I reported and city council said they would come and see about it. But I can't wait for him to finish sanding his boat because I have kids who play in the yard and they will soon have itch all over their skin so something has to be done about this guy."
"Everything just settles upstairs because the breeze is blowing in that direction. I try to avoid this guy because I had a problem with him long ago about my waterside. He lives right over there and he could take his boat and put it there but out of spite he wants to cause problem."
"My worst fear is that my kids are in the yard and I don't want any of them to get sick. If he wants to sand his boat he should take it in his own yard and do it."
And you might be surprised but Encalada's neighbor the man who she claims is putting her family's health at risk agrees with her. On the scene this morning we approached the fisherman who was sanding his 19-foot skiff and here is how that went.
Keith Swift,
[Approaching neighbor] "We just want to know if you have anything to say because your neighbor is complaining that the fiberglass that you are sanding is affecting her health. You have anything to say?"
Audrey's Neighbor,
"How can it affect her health? I just started. This is not something I do everyday."
Keith Swift,
"Can you at least accept that some fiberglass that you are sanding is flying into her house?"
Audrey's Neighbor,
"She could have come and told me it was affecting her. You understand?"
Keith Swift,
"Do you understand though that fiberglass is dangerous to be blowing into people's houses especially because she has young kids?"
Audrey's Neighbor,
"Well I accept that but I am her neighbor and the least she could have done was come and tell me it was affecting her and I would have stopped what I was doing."
Keith Swift,
"So now that you know it is affecting your neighbor, will you stop sanding?"
Audrey's Neighbor,
"Well sure. I already finished what I was sanding."
Our team left the scene with the problem solved as this fisherman promised to stop sanding the skiff and Audrey Encalada and her family are breathing easier tonight, even if the tension in the neighborhood has not eased off.
Just before news time we checked with Audrey Encalada and she confirmed that indeed her neighbor had stopped working on the skiff.