UPDATE: After our story, the school hired someone to clean up more debris and put safety cap on the rebar.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- A dispute between neighbors started after the wall dividing their property fell down -- the wall divided Scott Gilmore's property from Montessori Visions Academy.
A large section of the wall fell down during the big wind storm on March 30.
"They said they were going to take care of it, so the next day, they were right on it," said Scott Gilmore of the school owner's response. "The next day they had a construction crew out to start the work."
Gilmore watched a contractor come and tear down the rest of the wall and haul everything away. Then, he said the contractor started quoting prices for the new wall.
"Then I noticed the business card that I got from him didn't have a contractor's license number on it," said Gilmore. "I call the contractor myself and I just said, 'what is your license number?' And he's like, 'oh I don't have one. I'm getting my license but I don't have my license.'"
Gilmore asked him to stop work and told the school's owner the contractor they hired was unlicensed.
"I'm concerned for the safety now, because they were about to install the wall," Gilmore said. "I hadn't seen a single inspector out, I hadn't seen anything, I don't know if they had a permit, so I get concerned."
Work on the wall has totally stopped and the Gilmores can no longer use their backyard.
"We can't walk out back and feel comfortable, we can't let our dogs play in the yard, we can't do anything right now," said Gilmore, who bought the property so they would have land for their two horses, dogs and family.
However, it's not just his privacy; Gilmore said it's about safety.
"I have a baby and another baby on the way that's going to be running right next to the wall," he said, "they have a whole bunch of kids on their side of the wall. What if it fails? How do you justify that?"
13 Action News went to talk with Lori Bossi, the owner of Montessori Visions Academy. Bossi insisted they are "working diligently" to get a new wall put up, have two bids, and are waiting for more.
But she could not explain why they hired an unlicensed contractor. She defended it by saying they were not demolishing the wall, and that they were there on the weekend. But the contractors tore down the wall and hauled off the rest of it on a Friday.
Bossi also said they never planned to have that contractor rebuild the wall, even though he had already quoted prices for her and Gilmore.
13 Action News called the contractor's board, who told us they probably should have had a licensed contractor.
We also contacted Clark County. Their spokesman said they could not give us any details because they have an open complaint against the school, but told us they are looking into it.
