Loading...
Claim by Donald MillerTHE CITY OF DUB E MEMORANDUM Masterpiece on the Mississippi TRACEY STECKLEIN PARALEGAL To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and Members of the City Council October 11, 2011 Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Donald Miller Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim DATE: RE: Claimant Donald Miller 10/07/11 07/18/11 Property Damage This is a claim in which claimant alleges that a City of Dubuque employee stop box which caused the stop box to leak and is now in need of repair. This claim has been referred to Public Entity Risk Services of Iowa, the agent Communities Assurance Pool. cc: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager Rose Hoerner, Utility Billing Supervisor Donald Miller shut off the for the Iowa 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 Vfii 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 13th 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. t 1. Name of Claimant: Qp■U c�a , a u t� \ e 2. Address: c;,(4C h Ne * yU L btA‘ovx.itA.e_._aA s-aoo f( 3. Telephone Number 570 3 75-05 79 4. Date of Incident: 5. Time of Incident: 7- I63 -adt t 0:00a - L(.00PM 6. Location of Incident Be s ecific): �Cl 5 LG:Vers% RUe, ak ('A.r l0 5op 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 me.) T (T I L e I t - S(-4.- 0S+ \101/4- \v e �- CauSe CJI 8. What were weather conditions like? Gl�a✓ 9. Give name and address of any witnesses: 10. Did police investigate? (If so, give names of officers.) Ido 11. Was anyone injured? (If so, give names, addresses, and extent of injuries). 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.) 13. What othe damages do you claim, if any? fuLi 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 amo nt paid.) ✓I%© CUa Cov .24rec (A. k.ratACe_ I 15. hat amounglo you claim f m the City of Dubuque? I I kceeic 16.i i you-claim the Cit City of Dubuque is responsible? 17. Have you made any claim against anyone else for damages as a result of this incident? (If yes, give name and address.) 18. If the answer to Question 17 is yes, have you received any payment from that source, and if so, in what amount? Dated this 6 day of &c7 , , 20 J4 LIT wie,_ (Signature) X2'3�lc (GY AL Y'ller (Print Name) 1 I realize that the City of Dubuque has policy's in effect that pretty much cover any liability in association with leaking curb box valve, and they have made themselves exempt from any responsibility, even when one of there employee's caused a water leakage problem at the curb box valve at 2495 University Ave. I think the policy's that the City of Dubuque has in effect are unfair and should not apply to this particular situation, Terry Russell came up to the property at 2495 University and shut the curb box off on July 18' 2011, and caused the curb box valve and / or the line itself, going to the main or going to the house or both to leak. This was unnecessary, there was not a deli -quint bill and the water meter change out that he was so concerned about had taken place two days prior on July 16`''. according to Rose at City Housing, he wanted to make sure the valve worked, just in case he had to shut off the valve on July 20"'. I really don't know if Terry had orders to do this or was working on his own. A notice that the water was going to be shut off on July 20`11 if the water meter was not changed was left at the property on July 5th. We do not typically use this entrance and I can only assume Don found this on July 11th when he contacted Terry. When I talked to Rose at the housing dept, she mentioned that all kinds of notices were sent out about changing out the meter at 2495 University Ave, which I find totally beside the point but I will state them anyway. Dec 10th, North West sent out a letter to make an appt to get the meter changed. Jan 7th a notice from the City of Dubuque was sent out Jan 17th a notice was sent from the City of Dubuque was sent out Jan31 st appointment was made with NW for Feb 5th to change out meter Feb 5th NW came to change meter and found water dripping in the basement, they were not sure if this was potable water or not and wanted it checked first Sometime in the next few weeks someone from the City came up and made sure this was not sewage, which it was not and told us the City of Dubuque would contact us about scheduling the meter change. Terry tagged the Door on July 5 'h and Don had called him on July 11th NW could not tell me when the appointment was made to change the meter out but I have to assume it was at least by July 11th considering this would be less than a week span before the meter was changed on July 16th I have been told by several people at the City of Dubuque that it is the property owners responsibility to keep the curb stop in working order and that it is also the property owners responsibility all the way to the Main. I find this ludicrous. I would bet money that if the City of Dubuque started testing the curb box valves as standard operating procedure, you would have an uproar from the citizens of Dubuque some of these valves have been in the ground for 20 years and work just fine as long as you leave them alone and the fact remains that Terry Russell shut this valve off and then turned it back on with no justification. And if the homeowner is responsible for the working order of this valve, I would think the City of Dubuque would need permission from the homeowner to do anything to this valve unless of course it was a matter of a deli -quint water bill which was not the case! I I I I have contacted 3 excavators and plumbers and the total for this repair is close to $6000.00 which because Terry Russell unjustifiably turned my curb box valve. I the homeowner is expected to pay for. Is this really fair and just. I realize I am probably just beating my head against the wall but I feel if the City of Dubuque, or an employee representing the City of Dubuque caused this very expensive repair issue than they should be liable for the repair milli Donald N Miller 011.414 4/r,12120„. d - I I