Close, Dawn Claim Denial Appeal
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October 9, 2004
Honorable Mayor and City Counsel Members
City Hall
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
RE: Appeal to denial of claim filed against City of Dubuque by Dawn Close
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Dear Honorable Mayor and City Counsel Members:
I filed a claim on 9/21/04 for damages caused 8/22/04 and 9/11/04 by falling tree limbs. Those
claims were denied as of letter dated 10/6/04. I feel information that was necessary to make a
proper decision was not available or considered. I would like to respond to the points that were
used to determine the denial of these claims, from the letter written by Mr. John Hail and the
subsequent recommended denial letter written by Mr. Barry A. Lindahl.
'The Leisure Services Department were not notified of any damage done to either vehicle'
-On 8/23/04 I called the Leisure Service Department and told them I needed branches picked up
because they fell and damaged my vehicle. At that time I was told that I should go down to City
Hall and get a claim form from the City Clerk for the damage done to my property. I called the
City Clerk's office and explained my situation and was mailed a claim form.
-On 9/11/04 I called Leisure Services Department and left a message on the answering machine
that I had another branch that fell from the tree in front of my house and hit and damaged another
one of my vehicles-this would be the second one in two weeks. I called back on Monday 9/13/04
and reported the fallen branches and that it damaged my vehicle. I also said that this was the
second branch from that same tree that damaged a second vehicle and I wanted someone to
know this so they could come out and look at the tree in case something is wrong with it. At that
time I was told to call John Hail and was given the phone number. I called John Hail's office
immediately and was told that he was out of the office. I told the lady I spoke to that I wanted to
make sure that he knew about this tree outside of my house on 705 Rose St. that has had two
separate limbs on two separate occasions within two weeks fall on my vehicles and cause
damage. I didn't want it to fall on my house or the neighbors or continue to damage vehicles. I
was assured that he would indeed receive the message.
'The Police Department were not notified'
A police report? Is that really necessary? I wouldn't even have thought of bothering the police for
a tree limb. If that is really what I was suppose to do than it was strictly out of ignorance that I did
not call them. I figured a good faith claim with pictures; estimates and required phone calls would
be more than sufficient.
'The tree crew checked for hanging limbs and none were found'
There weren't any hanging limbs on those occasions because they had already fallen that's why
the crew was there. And does that mean that it is not possible that a limb will ever break off and
fall from that tree? How many days (weeks) before the first limb was the tree checked? I know it
was two weeks before the second limb. Couldn't something happen to that limb in two weeks?
When the second limb fell my husband and I heard a cracking sound and looked out the window
and saw the branch fall and hit the hood of my car and slide down the passenger side leaving a
dent on the hood and many scratches on the side. Unfortunately, I did not have my video camera
in my hand at the time.
J
'The trees in question were pruned in the spring of 2004 by our tree crew' 'The trees
have received annual maintenance'
If you check your records you wiil find that I have called the Leisure Service Department at least 4
times to have them come to my house to trim or haul away fallen branches from that same tree.
Fortunately, the other times the branches didn't cause damage. The pruning done in the spring
of 2004 I requested as well.
'The trees have received annual maintenance and the City is not negligent.
I am not sure I understand the implication behind that statement. I checked with a law office and
was assured that if a branch fell off of the tree in !DY yard and it hit a vehicie parked on the street
and caused damage I would be required, by law, to pay for those damages reqardless of how
weill took care of that tree.
The fact is that branches fell from that tree and put a dent in my vehicles that was not there
before. The second time it significantly scratched the passenger side of my car. I did the
responsible thing. I followed all the City's requirements for a claim. I made the appropriate
phone calls. I took pictures of not only the damage to my vehicles but also the limb that hit it and
where it broke off from the trunk of the tree. Those limbs are heavy and solid and falling from a
good distance up and it took two of us to drag them out of the street. I got an estimate from a
legitimate, respectable business and filed the proper paperwork as the City Clerk and the Leisure
Service Department instructed me.
I am assuming that the claims were denied for lack of information and now that the necessary
information has been given to the proper people I have faith that this will be resolved
appropriately.
I respectfully request that you take this new information into consideration and rescind the
decision to deny these claims.
Please, contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Dawn Close
705 Rose Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
(563) 583-4162
cc: Barry A. Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
Jeanne Schneider, City Clerk
John Hail, Park Division Manager