Black residents of a fast-growing city in north Alabama say they are suffering from years of neglect with no street lights, flooding problems that cause mold growth, and sewer problems in their older neighborhood.

Army veteran Bobby Sledge, 72, joined other residents in calling the City of Athens to rescue their community as they addressed the city council meeting on Monday.

Sledge this week told AL.com that he had to replace the floor of his house in Athens in October following flood damage. Sledge’s house is on Strain Road, where he said mold was growing in the house built in 1965.

“We’ve always had a problem with it, so recently, we just took all the floor joists and things out because they were full of mold and stuff,” Sledge said. “And it comes from the water; so many problems with the flooding and the mold.”

Sledge said prevailing problems in the predominantly Black neighborhood in Athens dissuaded him from building a house there and that his sister left her home in the area because “mold got so bad in it” because of flooding.

Sledge joined other residents in complaining that two sewer lines had passed through the area, but the city has not allowed anyone to connect to them.

Another resident, Willie Hardy, told the city council that he has sewage problems and that the water in his house produces a foul odor. Hardy lives in a house built in 1965. He also said has repeatedly run into deer because of the lack of street lights in the area.

“But my main concern is water that you drink in the house; it stinks,” Hardy said. “It’s just a bad smell. So we had to buy water to cook with.”

Residents complained to the Limestone County chapter of NAACP and the organization then got involved in April of last year. Monday marked a new effort to gain attention after the chapter first organized residents to attend a council meeting in June 2022.

A spokesperson for the city said in an email to AL.com that the city began conducting surveys in the neighborhood last month.

“The City of Athens has been conducting door-to-door surveys with residents, starting with the west side of Strain Road,” the emailed statement said. “That next step is to conduct door-to-door surveys on the east side of Strain Road and to make contact with a couple of residents on the west side who were missed during past visits. Some issues noted during the surveys, the City has already started addressing, such as a public nuisance on Luke Street.”

“Once all the surveys are complete, the City of Athens will proceed with addressing public improvement needs.”

Sharon Wilson brought her 74-year-old mother Betty in a wheelchair to the Monday council meeting. They live on Luke Street in a house built in 1992. Wilson’s mother, Betty Edwards, goes for dialysis thrice a week.

Wilson said the water she gets in her house stinks and that affects the smell of laundry

“And every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, when I get my mom up, I make sure I smell her shoes and clothes,” she told the media at a press conference that Limestone County NAACP organized Monday evening after the city council meeting. “I’ve been washing them, but I double-check and smell them to make sure that they don’t stink.”

She wondered why the City had not responded to calls for help. “They don’t try to help you with anything,” she said.

Wilson told the city council that she was concerned about the effect of the mold on her mother’s health. “I am worried about my mother, wondering if this black mold is going to kill my mother and it’s going to be the city that caused my mother’s death,” she said.

Diane Steele, a spokesperson for Limestone County NAACP, wrote in a statement she provided to the media on Monday that the concerns go back years.

“For years on different occasions, residents individually have complained by contacting the City of Athens about public services, in particular, sewer services,” said Steele.

She said, earlier in 2022, the city rejected some residents’ requests to tap into the sewer system running through their Luke Street neighborhood.

“Residents repeatedly try to get the city to include their Black community, yet the city is unresponsive,” Steele said. “In fact, the city has installed sewer lines through this neighborhood to bring water and sewer services to newly constructed housing.”

“In addition, other served communities in proximity to these residents have had public sewer services for many, many years, as have most if not all city residents.”

Steele accused the City of not repairing the private property damage following the sewer line installation in Luke Street that residents cannot tap into. The construction ended in 2022, she said.

There is “failure to address hazardous and noxious conditions, and failure to respond to residents’ complaints; together with the disrespect of different treatment compared to other, better-served communities,” the statement added.

Athens Mayor William “Ronnie” Marks is recovering from surgery after returning home Monday and could not attend the city council meeting, said District 4 Councilwoman Dana Henry during the meeting.

The Limestone NAACP is demanding that the City develop a drainage and sewage system plan for the area by January 2024, a representative, Ollie Turner, said while addressing the press after the Monday meeting.

He called on “city leaders to respect all Athenians, not just those associated with the new developments and new growth, but we need them to remember their old developments still need city services as well.”

Athens was the third fastest-growing city among Alabama cities with population of at least 10,000 in 2022. Athens added 1,500 residents between 2021 and 2022, after adding only 3,500 people the previous ten years. The city’s population is now over 28,000.

Turner said he welcomes the growth but said the Limestone County chapter of the NAACP believes the city needs an equity specialist.

“And this is to help our city to enforce equity throughout the city of Athens,” he said. “The Limestone County NAACP will want to help with recommendations and interview processes. We need this. We need to be a part of the system that is running our community.”