Florida residents see some progress on giant hole in backyard, still seek answers

DELAND, Fla. - People in a DeLand community are starting to see some results after FOX 35's story on a massive hole in their backyards creeping closer to their homes.

But they say they still want more answers.

Thursday morning, neighbors say an orange safety fence was put up around the edge of the steep drop-off.

"At least we’re eliminating this problem with the safety, and now we’re bringing the awareness to it, so everybody in the community can step up and let them know this has to be addressed," said Dave Ruge, whose house backs up to the hole.

"We’ve had some dogs run down there, and people think they can catch their dog, nobody was gone over, but we want to do something before something happens," Said Joyce Graney, who also lives next to the hole.

Ruge has photos dating back to when the damage first started in 2021.

It now sinks down about 30 feet.

Wednesday morning, after FOX 35's first story aired, neighbors say they received an email from their HOA with an update.

It says bids have been sent to five contractors.

The HOA's' management company told FOX 35 an engineer has been brought in to handle it.

Ruge says it's the first email he's seen in a while.

"I think that was a wake-up, they woke up and said, ‘Oh yeah somebody’s doing something here,’" Ruge said.

FOX 35 looked up court records showing the Saddlebrook Community Association filed a lawsuit against the builder that developed the neighborhood.

But that was settled last November.

Ruge says they haven't heard much else since then and hopes to get more information before he loses more land behind his home.

"I’m just hoping to see when we get a timeline and not be left in the dark," Ruge said. "I want to see timelines on who's doing what on these so-called bids and who’s bidding on it, because we get into the rainy season here and this is going to wash out really fast."

The management company for the HOA told FOX 35 they hope to get a contractor for the project in the next couple of weeks.