Claim Response - Heiberger, EliBARRY A. LINDAHL,
CORPORATION COUNSEL,
MEMO
Ci UQUE
To:
Mayor Terrance M. Duggan and
Members of the City Council
DATE:
September 28, 2001
RE:
Claim by Elizabeth Heiberger
Claimant
Date of Claim
Date of Loss
Nature of Claim
Elizabeth Heiberger 9/5/01
8/12/01
Property Damage
This is a claim in which the claimant states that a sewer line was blocked, which caused
water to enter her basement.
According to the report of John Klostermann, Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor, the
Operations and Maintenance Department was notified on August 12, 2001, that a sewer
line was blocked due to the build-up of grease. The line was cleaned and restored in a
timely manner. There has not been a history of problems with this line. Mr. Klostermann
recommends that the claim be denied due to a lack of prior knowledge. The Legal
Department concurs with this recommendation.
BAL/jm
Attachment
Cc:
Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
John Klostermann, Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
Elizabeth Heiberger
196 DUBUQUE BUiLDiNG 700 LOCUST STREET DUBUQUE, IA 52001-6824
TELEPHONE (563) 583-4113 / FAX (563) 583-1040 / EMAIL BALESQ~rv~NCI.NET
Op~afions & Maintenance Department
925 Kexper Boulevard
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-2338
· (3~9) 589-~50
(319) 5894252 FAX
September 24, 2001
Barry Lindahl
CorporatiOn Counsel
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA
Dear Barry:
This letter will respond to the claim filed by Ms. Elizabeth Heiberger.
Our records show that we were notified of.a possible sewer problem at 4:30pm on
August 12, 2001. When the crew arrived, they found that our main line was plugged.
The possible causes of the cloggage was a build up of grease. The line was cleaned
and service restored n a timely manner .~. ~ ~
Our records show that we do not have a history of problems with this line. During a
follow-up CCTV inspection, we did not find any construction defects. Our only report
concerning this location indicates that we serviced this line on May 24, 1999. We
cleaned the line but noted that our line was not the problem, however the lateral
connection with the house was plugged. It is therefore my recommendation to deny the
claim due to the lack Of P00r-knowiedge.
If you need any additional:'nformat'on conCeming this claim, I
Sincerely,
Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
JLK/vle
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