Robert Papenthien Claim
BARRY A. LINDAHL,
CORPORATION COUNSEL
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To:
Mayor Terrance M. Duggan
and members of the City Council
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MEMO
Date:
September 21, 2000
Re:
Claim of Robert Papenthien
Claimant
Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Robert Papenthien
9/6/00 9/4/00 property damage
This is a claim for damages to the claimant's property and for
reimbursement of Roto-Rooter expenses, both of which were incurred
as a result of a sewer backup at his home on Mt. Pleasant Street.
Under Iowa law, a city is not the insurer of the condition of
its sewers, and is only liable if it is negligent. The City's duty
is to exercise reasonable care to keep its sewers free from
defects. Before a city is liable for damage caused by a sewer
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 have discovered it.
According to the report of Street\Sewer Supervisor John
Klostermann, his records do not indicate a history of problems with
the line in question and it is his recommendation to deny this
claim due to the lack of prior knowledge. The Legal Department
concurs with his decision.
BAL/cg/Attachment
cc - Mr. Don Vogt
cc Mr. John Klostermann
cc Mr. Robert Papenthien
196 CYCARE PLAZA DU1\UQUE IOWA 52001
TELE 319583-4113 FAX 319 583-1040
e-mail balesq@mwci.net
Operations & Maintenance
Department
925 Kerper Blvd.
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-2338
Phone (319) 589-4250
FAX (319) 589-4252
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September 20,2000
Barry Lindahl
Legal Department
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
Dear Barry:
The purpose of this letter is to respond to the sewer claim filed by Mr. Robert
Papenthien on September 6,2000.
On September 4th, we were notified at 5:00 PM of a possible sewer problem with the
line that serves Mr. Papenthien's home. A sewer crew arrived at 5:30PM and found
that our main line was plugged. The line was opened and service restored in a short-
period of time. It appeared that the cause of the blockage was a build up of grease.
Our records show that we have no prior history of problems with this line and it is my
recommendation to deny this claim due to the lack of prior knowledge.
If you need any additional information concerning this claim, please contact me.
Sincerely, ~
JOrf~ ~ ann .
~t::~~ewer Maintenance Supervisor
J LKJvle
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