Hot, wet summer at CEV as residents report A/C failures, leaks

As temperatures in western Kentucky soar and heat indices climb above 100 degrees across the region, residents of Campus Evolution Villages in Murray say broken air conditioning units, water leaks and other maintenance problems are making their apartments difficult to live in.

Residents of both CEV North and CEV South told The Murray Sentinel that indoor temperatures have climbed into the 80s because of air conditioning failures. Some residents also reported persistent leaks and flooding that they say have caused water damage and mold.

Campus Evolution Villages is a student housing company owned by private real estate investment firm Primex Capital. According to information published by the company, its Murray complex has 248 units and 898 beds split between two properties – CEV North, 1421 N. 16th St., and CEV South, 1700 Lowes Drive.

Water leaks and mold

A video posted to Facebook by CEV North resident Cooper Barnett showed water on the apartment floor and dripping from the ceiling into a room below. In another portion of the video, Barnett wrung water from towels he said he had been using to contain flooding in the bathroom.

Photos and video also showed water damage and dark discoloration on walls in the apartment that Barnett identified as mold.

Barnett said the carpet in his bedroom is constantly wet and described an adjacent bedroom as “a lake.”

“(The bathroom) floods every night,” Barnett said in the video as he showed five towels placed in the shower that he said he had been using to try to contain water coming from above and below.

Another CEV resident, who spoke to The Sentinel on condition of anonymity, reported a similar problem. The resident said mold had developed in their bathroom because of leaks from the shower in the apartment above.

The resident said maintenance workers sprayed or painted over the affected areas without repairing the source of the leak.

Air conditioning failures

Wet conditions are not the only problem residents reported.

Barnett said the air conditioning in his apartment has not worked since July 4. He said CEV installed a window unit July 16.

Photos posted by Barnett show gaps remaining around the sides of the window unit where it does not fully seal the window opening.

“They left our window open and now there are bugs getting everywhere,” Barnett said.

Sydney Mills, a resident of CEV South, said the air conditioning in her apartment also is not working and temperatures inside the unit have climbed above 80 degrees.

Mills said she filed multiple work orders about the air conditioning. When a maintenance worker later came to repair a faucet in the apartment, she asked him about the problem.

Mills said the worker told her the air conditioning unit was “totally frozen over” and did not give her a timeline for when it would be repaired.

“I have to leave my door open and have a fan in the doorway pulling in cold air from the living room,” Mills said.

The Sentinel reached out to Campus Evolution Villages for comment but did not receive a response.