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Claim by Ronald SchneeTHE CITY OF DUB UE MEMORANDUM Masterpiece on the Mississippi TRACEY STECKLEIN PARALEGAL To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and Members of the City Council DATE: October 7, 2011 RE: Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Ronald Schnee Claimant Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim Ronald Schnee 10/05/11 Between 2000 Personal Injury/ and present Property Damage This is a claim in which claimant alleges that an approximate 1 OW slope occurred when the City widened Reeder Street between 2000 and 2002, causing excess water to flow onto claimant's property at 25 Alpine Street. Claimant states that as a result, claimant now has breathing issues due to his exposure to mold and his property has sustained water damage. 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 Ronald Schnee 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 L � 1111 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. 1. Name of Claimant: �oNRLD O. Sc N� 2. Address: 2S A l- rt- , Zj v 6uc .u' . , SA 5 Dc, 3. Telephone Number 1'LiAst Co,urAcT Dui. 1-'443vGN µL1 A- troeNti , 4A4A-A ->k T 1 ;fn.{ $15 341.c099q 4. Date of Incident: w t 20oo 3 Y E.WEAJT 5. Time of Incident: NIA 6. Location of Incident (Be specific): 2S ALPINt. f .4..4,pte. cr. 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.) S£f ATAc, -f4,D 8. What were weather conditions like? NSA 9. Give name and address of any witnesses: �HN WoS�t��oN � , CiI-t,, ob 'J cq -e. � &pt Lt abovE ttg &Su eckzdA &k i ►-.e e, LS A I p i tee., 1-),co vct Q c .k S teo 1 Neu \vest 10. Did police investigate? (If so, give names of officers.) 11. Was anyone injured? (If so, give names, addresses, and extent of injuries). ZNaL-D SC 14 N f.1- WAS Bel kt rssv S.s 1+Avc_ 8 E EN TAi(e EAS t D NE. To q.x poSu le f To )ko £ 40,44 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.) fs . Sf ,4trAGt+>✓ D 13. What other damages do you claim, if any? DC:P oc Pr.o47£e-Tt.i. or-" C.cSfS 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.) lJo. 15. What amount do you claim from the City of Dubuque? See fitaGi FA) 16. Why do you claim the City of Dubuque is responsible? S �ti AT(Ac 17. Have you made any claim against anyone else for damages as a result of this incident? (If yes, give name and address.) ICS. X Wew4. eictrv£D ADZ-AAA-L. Co�pi.A4Ar ,... cap,- f MA doe_ DAmAet. cbAit To TZtt r i p o T644 I^b J (DAS ikt tNT) 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 0 day of 0cko(�►c- _ , ,'•� t c <u UvKJcc( G ��iLi�L�JL ;r c/ 0 (Signature) et/ r: d , c — (Print Name) AMAAA)Pr T. LAS S A-A,c`t. JJ rn 7 -m Response to question 7 and 16. Approximately 8 to 10 years ago, between 2000 and 2002, the City of Dubuque widened Reeder Street. Reeder Street intersects at Alpine. Reeder Street is a two way street, until it approaches the intersection of Alpine and Reeder, toward the West Side. It is at that point that the street was like an alley, with allowance for only 1 %2 cars. The city, for reasons not known to me, decided to widen the street at that end to accommodate two vehicles, or to make the streets uniform. They widened the street on the north side of Reeder Street. They poured asphalt to do this. In their work, the city of Dubuque widened Reeder Street on the North side approximately 10 1/2 inches higher than on the south side of Reeder Street. The street was now at a significant slope. It should also be noted that my property is located over the former entrance to Wooten's mine. There is flowing water running under my land. Due to this, my property is more susceptible to water damage than most though I have not had a history of damage due to water. I have a central air conditioning unit on the north side of my home. Because of the condition of the property under the home, the property is continuing to settle, causing me to have to re -pour a concrete slab for my central air conditioning unit to sit on. I have had to re -pour this slab approximately three times since 2000. Because of this condition, excess water flow into the property causes more damage than would be done to a property that did not have flowing water underneath it. My home is located at 25 Alpine, right on the south corner of Reeder and Alpine. I have done significant improvements to my property over the years. (See attached photos of home prior to damage, marked A) The widening the city completed on Reeder Street has caused significant damage to my property over the years. With the city only pouring asphalt on the north side, it caused a slide like effect on the street. Any time it rained, snowed, etc., the water and refuse ran directly into my yard. I, however, did not notice this immediately as the effects were slight at first. I did, however, notice initially when they widened the street that the grade was significantly higher on the north side than the south side. In Spring/Summer of 2010, I walked into my home through the back door. There was an overwhelming smell of mildew and mold. I investigated in the home first and noticed mold accumulating in the basement. This is bizarre because I have never had a mold issue, never had a water issue and, in fact, have a fully furnished basement that has been dry for years. Since I noticed this, I began investigation elsewhere. I started in the yard. I noticed that the yard was starting to get moldy. I looked at the windows at basement level. When I purchased the home the basement windows were approximately 5 inches from ground level. At this time, the windows are now flush with the ground and because of this, the windows are rotting out and need to be replaced. (See photos marked B) I have a shed that I custom built on the north corner of the lot. The baseboards are rotting away due to excess water and refuse that pushes through my yard. This shed was just repainted two years ago and the paint is peeling and the boards are rotting. (See photos marked C) I custom built this shed to last forever and because of the water damage, it now needs extensive repair in order to keep it in working order. I discovered foundation line cracks. I had three trees in my yard: one elm and two apple trees. These trees were mature and I planted the apple trees myself. The apple trees provided an incredible amount of apples each year. In the Spring/Summer of 2010 I noticed the elm tree seemed to be dying. I called in a tree removal service and had to have this tree removed because it was full of fungus. The apples from the apple tree in the Fall of 2010 were puny and unacceptable. I had the apple trees tested and they were also full of fungus, which is caused by extensive moisture in the soil. I planted these trees myself, and I will never be able to see an apple tree in the same condition in my lifetime. (See photos marked A). Even though I started to notice a potential mold and mildew issue, I did not have water in my basement until the exponential amounts of rain Dubuque received in the Summer of 2010. Because there was no barrier, except my hedges, to block the massive amounts of rain that we received, my basement flooded. My water heater was ruined. My furnace was ruined. FEMA did step in and give me a $923.00 allowance for clean up and compensated for replacement furnace and water heater. I have since treated the walls myself to get rid of the mold. However, my basement was a liveable space. I had a daughter who was living in a room in the basement. It was carpeted. We stored collectibles in the basement with no problems. I have lost all of my collectibles, my daughter has lost a good portion of her belongings. All of these items cannot be replaced and do not carry a specific monetary value. Due to the extensive amount of rain received in the Summer of 2010, combined with the lack of any water barrier and the city's decision to place even a steeper slope on Reeder Street, I called Nauman's Nursery to install drain tile. I paid Nauman $955.00 for the work done to cure the water problem going to the basement. His work was less than satisfactory and left my front yard and side yard in shambles. (See photos marked D). However, I had this work completed before I realized that water continued to stream into my yard from Reeder Street. After his work, my yard never completely drained from all the water spilling into my yard and left it brown and unsightly. (See photos marked E) I will need all of this work completed again. In September 2010, I finally called the city as I was determined their action was the cause of most of my problems with water, moisture and expanding soil. A representative from the city came to my property , John Klostermann, and nearly immediately city staff were working on the improvements that are there now. The city poured extra asphalt on the south side of Reeder Street in an attempt to level out the streets. Additionally, they installed a steep curb to prevent any further water damage. (See photos marked F) However, the damage has been done. My hedges are my only water barrier, and they need to be removed. A fence needs to be constructed to prevent water flow into yard. The constructed sidewalk needs to be removed and replaced because of extensive water damage. The sidewalk needs to be re reouted to avoid the curb installed by city and provide better outflow to the street. I will need a fence to help keep water inflow down. My yard continues to fill up with water, turning the remaining soil into mud and clay. (See photos marked G). The city caused this problem by increasing the grade and slope of Reeder Street. The effects of this did not become known until Summer /Fall of 2010. The city stepped in to correct the problem they caused by installing a curb upon my complaint. The curb helps matters, but my property has been damaged extensively. I have attached an itemized estimation of damages.