Claim by Tim WittstockTHE CITY OF
DUB E MEMORANDUM
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TRACEY STECKLEIN
PARALEGAL
To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and
Members of the City Council
DATE: August 30, 2011
RE: Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Tim Wittstock
Claimant Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Tim Wittstock 08/29/11 07/27/11 Property Damage
This is a claim in which claimant alleges that that the lower portion of claimant's
driveway at 2100 Kaufmann Avenue was damaged during the July 28, 2011 rain event.
This claim has been referred to Public Entity Risk Services of Iowa, the agent for the Iowa
Communities Assurance Pool.
cc: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
John Klostermann, Street & Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
Tim Wittstock
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 / EMAIL tsteckle @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 13`h 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.
1. Name of Claimant: Tim and Kim Wittstock
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2. Address: 2100 Kaufmann Ave., Dubuque, IA 52001 g cr_,
3. Telephone Number: 563 — 590 — 6560 w
4.Date of Incident: July 27, 2011 C N
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5. Time of Incident: overnight
6 Location of Incident (Be specific): The lower portion of my driveway at 2100 Kaufmann
Ave., Dubuque, IA
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.)
The City detention basin to the east of my driveway was partially filled in with sediment as a
result of a rain earlier in the summer and the drain pipe from the detention basin to the City
storm sewer on Kaufmann Avenue was clogged. After the earlier rain, the bottom of my
driveway and the adjoining part of Kaufmann Avenue was damaged and had to be repaired.
This repair was done by the City of Dubuque. At that time, I told the person operating the City's
backhoe that the detention basin was substantially filled and that the drain pipe was clogged. I
asked him to fix it by unclogging the pipe and digging out the basin. He declined to do so, but
told me to call the City Public Works Department. I called the City Public Works Department
and left at least 3 voice mails, none of which were returned.
The detention basin remained substantially filled and the drain pipe remained plugged until the
rain on July 27, 2011. At that time, the detention basin quickly overflowed and the overflow
water undermined my driveway and washed it out. The contractor that fixed the road after the
damage said that the drain pipe from the basin to the sewer should have been about 4 times
larger than it was.
8. What were weather conditions like? There was heavy rain
9 Give name and address of any witnesses: Tim and Kim Wittstock and John Klosterman of the
City.
10. Did police investigate? (If so, give names of officers.) No
11 Was anyone injured? (If so, give names, addresses, and extent of injuries.) No'
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.)
My roadway was badly damaged. A photo of the damage and copies of the repair work
estimates are attached.
13. What other damages do you claim, if any? None
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.) No
15. What amount do you claim from the City of Dubuque? $5,500.00
16. Why do you claim the City of Dubuque is responsible? I believe this detention basin and
the drainpipe from the detention basin to the storm sewer under Kaufmann Avenue was
constructed by the City of Dubuque to minimize the damage from surface water runoff from the
Bunker Hill golf course and other City property.
* The detention basin is too small, and lack of an adequately sized detention basin is
aggravated by the fact that the detention basin itself was nearly filled with sediment and debris
by the earlier storm so it can hold much less water than it should have held;
* The City should have attempted to unclog the drainpipe and to clear the debris and
sediment out of the detention basin after I notified them of those problems;
* The City put in too small of a drainpipe running from the detention basin to the City's
storm sewer which resulted in the pipe clogging up so that there was no way to relieve or drain
the water that accumulated in the detention basin;
* The City should know that if there was a significant rain, my roadway located below
the detention basin was in danger of being undermined and washed out as evidenced by the
damage to the lower portion of my driveway and Kaufmann Avenue when we had the heavy
rain earlier this summer. The City knew that a rain storm had the potential to undermine and
damage the drive way because that's what it had done earlier this year, yet nothing was done to
and enlarge the detention basin - or even clear out the sediment that had accumulated in it -
nor was anything done to enlarge the drainpipe from the basin detention basin to the City
sewer system - or even unclog the existing drainpipe.
The bulk of my driveway, which is above the detention basin, suffered no damage.
17. Have you made any claim against anyone else for damages as a result of this incident? (If
yes, give name and address.) No
18. If the answer to Question 17 is yes, have you received any payment from that source, and if
so, in what amount? N/A
Dated this 2-61 day of August, 2011.
Tim Wittstock