Claim Response Merges, Sarah J.
BARRY A. LINDAHL, Es .
CORPORATION COUNSEL, CITY OF DUBUQUE
MEMO
TO:
Mayor Terrance M. Duggan and
Members of the City Council
DATE:
August 12, 2004
RE:
Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Sarah J. Merges
Claimant
Date of Claim
Date of Loss
Nature of Claim
Sarah J. Merges
08/02/04
07/20/04
Vehicle Damage
This is a claim in which the claimant alleges that her vehicle's mirror was damaged by a
City refuse truck while her vehicle was parked in front of 2593 Fulton Street. Claimant
states that because she observed no other traffic other than the City refuse truck on the
dead end street where her vehicle was parked, the truck must have caused the damage.
According to the report of Paul Schultz, Solid Waste Management Supervisor, the Ops &
Maintenance Department was called to investigate the alleged damage to claimant's 2003
Toyota Odyssey. Dave Sitzmann, Lead Sanitation Driver, investigated at the site, spoke
with the claimant and took a photo of the damaged mirror. Mr. Sitzmann advised claimant
that he would inspect the three trucks (refuse truck, recycling truck and yardwaste truck) at
mirror height which had serviced Fulton Street. Mr. Sitzmann's investigation revealed no
evidence of the trucks having made contact with the damaged mirror, and the
crewmembers denied having any knowledge of causing the damage.
Because the circumstantial evidence it not sufficient to approve this claim, it is the
recommendation of Paul Schultz to deny it. The Legal Department concurs with this
recommendation.
BAL:tls
cc: Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
--Jeanne Schneider, City Clerk
Paul Schultz, Solid Waste Management Supervisor
Sarah J. Merges
~.
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SUITE 330, HARBOR VIEW PLACE, 300 MAIN STREET DUBUQUE, IA 52001-6944
TELEPHONE (563) 583-4113/ FAX (563) 583-1040 / EMAIL balesq@cityofdubuque.org
Operations and Maintenance Department
925 Kerper Boulevard
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-2338
(563) 589-4250 office
(563) 589-4252 fax
(563) 589-4193 TDD
ops&maint@cityofdubuque.org
D~
~ck.~
August 11, 2004
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Barry A. Lindahl, Esq., Corporation Council ~
Paul F. Schultz, Solid Waste Management Superviso
Claim of Sarah J. Merges
The claim for $269.58 is denied as filed.
On July 20, 2004, three city trucks, Yard Waste, Recycling, and Refuse, made
solid waste collections at 2593 Fulton Street. After these collections, our office was
called by Carol Leach to investigate alleged damage caused by one of these trucks to
her daughter, Sarah Menges', 2003 Toyota Odyssey. Dave Sitzmann, Lead Sanitation
Driver, investigated at the site, talked to the claimant, and took a photo of the damaged
mirror. The damage claimed was a shallow scratch was approximately 1.5 inches in
length, which scraped away the silver blue paint to reveal the black plastic of the mirror
housing. There was no apparent paint transfer. The mirror glass was not damaged.
The bend-back mechanism operated fine.
Dave told the claimant that he would inspect the trucks at mirror height which
serviced that street and talk to the crews to verify if they may have caused the damage.
He told the claimant that the crew would not likely have backed up to get very close to
her vehicle unless there were no visible setouts further down this dead-end segment. At
the time of collection, the street was wide open with no cars parked on the other side of
the street.
Dave investigated the claim with the crews. All of the crewmembers denied any
knowledge of causing the damage. The three trucks revealed no evidence of having
made contact with the damaged mirror.
The circumstantial evidence uncovered in the investigation is not adequate for
me to approve the claim.
Se~i"
People
Int'g"ty
R"pon,ibility
Innovation
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