Austin family waiting for City inspection turns trench into Halloween display

Most people don't have a trench in their front yard to work with.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It's a Halloween display the Donovan family is pretty proud of. Enough so, they sent a photo to KXAN's Report!t this year.

But they're also at a bit of an advantage over others sending their spookiest photos to KXAN. Most people don't have a trench in their front yard to work with.

"The plumbers told us that the City has to come out and inspect the work before they can fill it back in so we thought lets make lemons out of lemonade and decided to make our 'graveyard escape,'" Forest Donovan said.

The Donovan family came home from a trip to low water pressure, they told KXAN. The resulting work was expansive and expensive. A yard line had to be replaced, which meant digging up a trench in the yard.

"It's a bit of an eye sore if you drive by and so at least we made something fun out of it," Donovan said.

The work is done, but the City of Austin's Development Services Department said for yard line repairs it has to make sure the line is installed and tested up to code before the trench is filled.

"From the time payment is received and the contractor schedules the inspection, inspections are typically completed within 24 hours. In fact, if an inspection is requested by 6 a.m., it can be completed the same day. A second inspection is required to ensure the trench is covered correctly according to Code. These are also currently running on time," a spokesperson for that department said.

The Donovan family said they've had fun with their display, and are hoping the City comes just at the right time.

"Now that we have it we kind of think it's cool too so hopefully the City shows up on November 1st," Donovan said.