Claim Response Weitz, RonaldBARRY A. LINDAHL, ESQ.
CORPORATION COUNSEL,
MEMO
CITY OF DUBUQU~I ~
To:
Mayor Terrance M. Duggan and
Members of the City Council
DATE:
August 14, 2003
RE:
Claim Against the City By Ronald Weitz
Claimant
Date of Claim
Date of Loss
Nature of Claim
Ronald Weitz 07/08/03 07/04/03
Property Damage
This is a claim in which claimant alleges that while a City paving truck was parked at the
top of Lowell Street, water was diverted onto claimant's property, damaging a chain link
fence, washing out an embankment, and causing water damage in the basement of
claimant's property.
According to the report of John Klostermann, Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor, many
areas of the City received storm damage caused by wind and heavy rain on July 5th. Also
on this same date, the Operations & Maintenance Department received a notice from
police dispatch that an embankment located at 2310 Hempstead Street had washed out
due to the heavy reins. While visiting the area, Mr. Klostermann noted that an Ops &
Maintenance asphalt paver was parked propedy next to the curb. There was also a pick-
up truck parked in the same manner up hill from the paver. After reviewing the damage,
Mr. Klostermann became concerned with the possibility of additional rainfall, and had the
paver moved to another location to avoid additional damage.
Although it is the opinion of John Klostermann that the paver was propedy parked, his
investigation did show that the front tires of the paver diverted water over the curb. It is
therefore the recommendation of John Klostermann to approve this claim for the claimed
amount of $475.00 since the paver may have contributed to additional flow onto the
property. The Legal Department concurs with this recommendation.
BAL:tls
Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
Jeanne Schneider, City Clerk
John Klostermann, Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
Ronald Weitz
SUn*E 330, HARBOR V~EW PLACE, 300 MAIN STREET DUBUQUE, IA 52001-6944
TELEPHONE (563) 583-4113 / FAX (563) 583-1040 / EMAIL BALESQ(~MWCI.NET
Operations and Maintenance Department
925 Kexper Boulevard
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-2338
(563) 5894250 office
(563) 5894252 fax
(563) 5894193 TDD
ops&maint~cit~ofdubuque.org
August 13, 2003
Barry Lindahl
Corporation Council
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52004-4864
Dear Barry:
This letter will respond to the claim filed by Ronald Weitz.
The claimant alleges that the asphalt paving equipment that was parked for the weekend
on Lowell Street, diverted water onto the claimants yard and caused him property
damage.
Dudng the eady moming of July 5th, many areas of the city received storm damage
caused by wind and a heavy rain. Reports of 1.9 inches of rain dudng a very short time
were not uncommon. Street flooding occurred on several streets including Kaufmann
Avenue, Rosedale, West Locust and East 22nd Streets.
On July 5th, I received a notice from the police dispatch center that the embankment had
washed out due to the heavy rains. While reviewing the area, I noted that our asphalt
paving equipment was parked propedy next to the curb. There was also a pick up truck
parked in the same way up hill from our asphalt paver. After reviewing the damage, I
became concerned with the possibility of additional rainfall, and had the paver moved to
another location to avoid additional damage.
Although I feel that the asphalt paving equipment was properly parked, my investigation
did show that the front tires of the paver diverted water over the curb. It is therefore my
recommendation to pay the damage claim of $475.00 because the paver may have
contributed to additional flow onto the property.
If you need any additional information concerning this claim, please contact me.
Sincerely,
J~n~;~ ~ ~K~°eS~rm~r ~r vis or
Service People ~ategrit7 Responsibiti~* Innovation Teamwork