HOUSTON — CenterPoint apologized to a homeowner after digging massive holes in his yard.
Homeowner J Boatner said it happened without giving him any notice.
When talking with neighbors Wednesday afternoon, we found out Boatner wasn't the only one surprised by the unexpected work.
It has become a frustrating situation for them. Since they weren’t getting any information, KHOU 11 News made some calls to get answers.
A few doors down from Boatner you’ll find Amanda Dawson also dealing with the unexpected holes in her front yard.
She provided video from her doorbell camera and said it came as a total surprise for her to see especially since she never spoke to them.
"I actually came home from vacation yesterday," Dawson said.
As a result, the video clips are the only heads-up she had that someone from CenterPoint was on her property before the holes were dug.
"I wonder if just a knock on the door is enough. I didn’t get any literature on the front door or anything in the mail just one knock that I didn’t answer because I wasn’t home," Dawson said.
Dawson isn’t the only one feeling left in the dark.
A few doors down, Boatner called KHOU 11 and said he only found out about the holes after opening his front door.
"They were digging up ... and I asked them what’s going on," Boatner said.
Boatner said the workers told him they were with CenterPoint.
"I’m not trying to stop them from working. Communications would’ve been great and I would at least have an understanding of what’s going on," Boatner said.
We wanted those answers, too, so, we went straight to CenterPoint.
They provided the following statement:
"We want to sincerely apologize to the customer for the lack of communication regarding the natural gas work happening on his property. As part of CenterPoint Energy’s ongoing efforts to improve reliability and resiliency for our natural gas customers, contract crews today began digging work to identify utilities ahead of a planned project to modernize our system. The lack of notification has been addressed, and we are following up with the customer directly to apologize and provide project details. Once the project is complete, the yard will be restored."
"Even like a little *knocks on home* then I can open the door and they can tell me that way," Boatner said.
Dawson's camera showed a worker knocking on her door but it's unclear what they were going to tell her. It's possible that CenterPoint workers could have knocked on Boatner's door while he wasn't home.
"I have an animal and we’re fenced in but a lot of people walk their animals around here so they’ve got to be careful about their animals falling into these holes," Dawson said.
In addition to apologizing, CenterPoint said it will do a better job communicating with the homeowners about the ongoing work and when they're done they said they will restore the yards.