A condotel on U.S. 192 in Kissimmee hasn't had running water for three days now. Residents are taking unconventional measures just to flush the toilet. It's not known when the water will be restored.

  • Osceola Heritage Park Inn in Kissimmee without running water
  • Disabled veteran carries water from the pool to fill the toilet
  • Water issue stems from fight between owner, condo association

Jorge LoPiccolo, a disabled Navy veteran, moved to the Osceola Heritage Park Inn to be close to the VA hospital. He has an illness that weakens his muscles, much like Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS).

“All my muscles are deteriorating,” he explained.

Now he’s facing one more obstacle. The water at the condotel he lives in has been off since Monday. He says he’s been living there since last year and things have gotten progressively worst.

“There’s rats that I see every night crawling up that wire there, there’s dog feces everywhere,” he said. “And now I am trying to get rid of my human feces in my toilet by getting water out of the pool.”

It takes this veteran four trips to the pool to gather enough water to flush the toilet once. Toho Water Authority says the past due balance is nearly $12,000.

“These people need not to put us in the middle of their confrontation,” LoPiccolo said.

We spoke to one of the hotel owners over the phone since she doesn’t live in the country. Sarah Boughanmi claims to have been fronting the bills with other owners for a while, even though she says this is the association’s responsibility. At the moment, the association is in the middle of litigation with the hotel owners.

“They had a major accident with the plumbing this month and they took days to fix it. There was water flowing by the gallon every second and they just let it flow,” Boughanmi said. “That put an extra couple thousand on the bill, and they’re responsible for it.”

We tried speaking with someone at the management office at Osceola Heritage Park but their doors were closed. The condo association manager did not return our phone calls either.

The tenants are hoping things get resolved before the county gets involved and evacuates them.

“I don’t know what the issue is between these two owners but this is not our business,” LoPiccolo added.

Rent there ranges between $500 to $800 a month, which includes water, electricity and cable.