Donald Kohl Claim
BARRY A. LINDAHL, E Q.
CORPORATION COUNSEL
MEMO
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To:
Mayor Terrance M. Duggan
and members of the City Council
Date:
August 22, 2000
'Re:
Claim,of'Donald Kohl
Claimant
Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Donald Kohl
7/25/00 7/15/00 vehicle damage
This is a claim for damages to the claimant,' s vehicle, which
it allegedly sustained when it hit a large pot hole on Vizaleea
Drive. '
Under Iowa law, a. city is not the insurer of the condition of
its streets, and is only liable if it is negligent'. The City's'
duty is to exercise reasonabl~ care to keep its streets free from
defects'. Before a city is liable for damage caused by 'a street
defect, the city must have had actual knowledge or constructive
notice of, the defect, with sufficient time to have repaired it
prior to the incident causing damage. Actual knowledge occurs when
the city is actually aware of the defect; constructive notice
occurs when the defect has existed for such a period of time that
a reasonable person would h~ve discovered it.
According tp the report of Street\Sewer Maintenan,ce Supervisor
John Klostermann, although the street was in poor condition for
several years and was patched several times, the Ci ty had not
received any notice of a problem prior to this claim. It is
therefore his recommendation to deny the claim due to the lack of
any prior' knowledge of this particular defect. The Legal
Department concurs with his recommendation to deny 'the claim.
BAL/cg/Enc.
cc Mr. Donald Vogt
cc - Mr. John Klos termann
cc - Mr. Donald Kohl
1 9 6 eye A 1l 'E P'L A Z A DUB U Q U 'E lOW A 5200 1
TEL'E 319 583.4113 FAX 319583-1040
e-mail balesq@mwcLnet
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Operations & Maintenance
Department
925 Kerper Blvd.
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-2338
Phone (319)589-4250
FAX (319) 589-4252
August 7, 2000
Barry, Lindahl
Corporation Counsel
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52004-4864
Dear Barry:
This letter will respond to the claim filed by Donald Kohl on July 24, 2000.
Mr. Kohl is claiming damage to his vehicle when he hit a pothole on Vizaleea Drive. As
stated in Mr. Kohl's claim, the street was in poor condition for several years and was
just recently paved with asphalt. Our records show that we had patched this street
several times throughout the year but had not received any notice of a problem prior to
this claim.
It is my recommendation to deny this claim due to the lack of any prior knowledge of
this particular defect.
If you need additional information concerning this claim, please contact me.
sincererJt-4---
Ook~~
JJhn Klostermann
Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
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