Claim by Robert and Gladys O'BrienTHE CITY OF
DUB E
Masterpiece on~he Mississippi
BARRY L~PM~CYAHL
CITY ATT RNEY
To:
DATE:
RE:
Claimant
MEMORANDUM
Mayor Roy D. Buol and
Members of the City Council
January 29, 2008
Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Robert L. O'Brien
Date of Claim
Robert L. O'Brien
01 /25/08
Date of Loss
12/19/07 & 01 /21 /08
Nature of Claim
Property Damage
This is a claim in which the claimant alleges that his basement sustained water damage
due to a leaky water meter.
This claim has been referred to Public Entity Risk Services of Iowa, the agent for the Iowa
Communities Assurance Pool.
BAL:tIs
cc: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
Jeanne Schneider, City Clerk
Ken TeKippe, Finance Director
Robert L. O'Brien
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY DUBUQUE, IOWA
SUITE 330, HARBOR VIEW PLACE, 300 MAIN STREET DUBUQUE, IA 52001-6944
TELEPHONE (563) 583-4113 / FAx (563) 583-1040 / EnnAIL balesq@cityofdubuque.org
CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
This written report constitutes your claim against the City of Dubuque, Iowa. You
should complete this form in full and attach any additional information that
supports your claim.
The claim must be filed with the City Clerk at City Hall, 50 West 13th St.,
Dubuque, IA 52001. It will then be referred to the appropriate department for
investigation and to the City Attorney's Office. Once that investigation is
completed, a report and recommendation will be submitted to the City Council.
You will be provided with a copy of that report and recommendation.
The final decision on all claims is made by the City Council. No employee of the
City of Dubuque has the authority to make any representation to you as to
whether your claim will or will not be paid.
Name of Claimant:
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2. Address: ~~83~' ~-R-,diL~
3. Telephone Number 5 &3- ~~4~
4. Date of Incident: ~ - .~~• i9 ~ oo7 '~a - ~. • ~~; aoo8
5. Time of Incident: ~ -..~a:~..~-K.-bl'.e
6. Location of Incident (Be specific):
38
7. Describe the accident or occurrence that caused injury or damage. (Give full
details upon which you base your claim. If a City employee was involved, give
the employee's name.)
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8. What were weather conditions like?
9. Give name and address of any witnesses:
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10. Did police investigate? (If so, give names of officers.)
11. Was anyone injured? (If so, give names, addresses, and extent of injuries).
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12. Was any damage done to property? (If so, describe property and the extent
of damages. Attach estimates of damages or describe basis for ascertaining
extent of damage.)
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13. What other damages do you claim, if any?
14. Have you been compensated for any part or all of your claim by any
insurance company? (If so, give name and address of insurance company and
amount paid.)
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15. What amount do you claim from the City of Dubuque?
~~~~
16. Why do you claim the City of Dubuque is responsible?
17. Have you made any claim against anyone else for damages as a result of
this incident? (If yes, give name and address.)
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18. If the answer to Question 17 is yes, have you received any payment from that
source, and if so, in what amount?
Dated this a5~~ day of ~ ~., , 20 ° 8 ~ ~~~~ ~
a~~~~C~ ~' ~,'at~~n ~!~
(Signature)
(Print Name)
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12. Yes, there was damage done to our property. The wall-to-wall carpeting was still
water stained after drying it with heaters and fans. We suggest $100 for the carpet.
Family photographs (individual & in albums) were damaged with pages and pictures
stuck together; some dating back to the early 1900's. Also, many collected records
(78, 33 1/3 and 45 RPM) stored in the cardboard boxes were damaged in that many of
their covers (individual & album) were stuck together and ruined. But, how do you put a
loss value on photos that cannot be replaced, or record covers which described enclosed
recordings? We suggest $200 for the photograph damage and $150 for the record covers.
7. #1- On Dec, 19, 2007 we found wet carpeting in one room of the basement caused by
water dripping from the bottom of the water meter. The water must have been leaking for
days before we found it because the wall-to-wall carpeting and the bottoms of items
stored on top of the carpet in cardboard boxes were all wet. We had a plumber from
Willenborg check the leak (about a drop per second) and repair it. The plumber said that
we may need to have the water meter replaced if the leak started again.
#2-On Monday Jan. 21, 2008 (a holiday) we found a leak at the same location and we
called the City Water Dept. the next morning. The City plumber showed up in the
afternoon of the same day and replaced the water meter. The plumber said we should file
a claim with the City Clerk to seek possible compensation for the water damage.
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