Claim by Regina NoelMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TRACEY STECKLEIN
PARALEGAL
M F MORAN DUM
To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and
Members of the City Council
DATE: April 23, 2013
RE: Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Regina and Robert Noel
Claimant Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Regina & Robert Noel 04/23/13 03/08/13 Property Damage
This is a claim in which claimant alleges that after a sump pump was installed in her
home which she states was required by the City of Dubuque Engineering Department,
her basement flooded.
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
Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
Denise lhrig, Environmental Engineer
Regina and Robert Noel
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 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: TijN\milt:)'t
2. Address:
3. Telephone Number TX
4. Date of Incident: IA
5. Time of Incident: 40
6. Location of Incident (Be specific):
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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. .
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8. What were weather conditions like?
9. Give name and address of any witnesses:
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10. Did police investigate? (If so, give names of officers.)
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.)
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13. What other damages do you claim, if any?
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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.)
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15. What amount do you claim from the City of Dubuque?
16. Why do you claim the City of Dubuque is responsible?
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17. Have you made any claim against anyone else for daages 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?
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Dated this ( day ofrt 1.
(Signature)
(Print IV me)
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April 20, 2013
To Whom it May Concern:
I am providing a timeline of events surrounding the unnecessary addition of a sump pump to my house
as enforced by the City of Dubuque. In summary, I notified several City staff including the two
Environmental Engineers in charge of the l &l inspections as well as the 2 inspectors who came to my
house. I notified them that I was advised by my home inspector, Kevin Doyle, not to put in a sump
pump and that the water in my pit was groundwater or from an aquifer. He stated that I should not
disturb it because I would be pumping water from an endless source of water. My plea was ignored and
I was advised by the Engineering Department that the decision was made that all "pits without pumps"
need to have a pump installed, fill the pit, or face a penalty. I installed the pump since filling the pit was
not an option. Within 24 hours of installing the pump, my property flooded, my foundation cracked,
and my basement flooded.
Here is a timeline of events:
In July 2012, I was notified that we were going to have an inspection of our property because I lived in a
neighborhood which had high sanitary sewer flows during rainfall events. The City was looking for
improper connections and violations. I was then notified on August 14, 2012 that I neither passed nor
failed the inspection. I did not and do not have any illegal hookups to the sanitary sewer system. I have
a pit in the far back corner of my house without any electricity or any drains of any type. I expressed my
concerns to Todd Shoemaker who was the Environmental Engineer at the time. I simply had a sump jar
in the far corner of my basement that went unnoticed up until now.
Several months later after Todd Shoemaker left the City of Dubuque, Denise Ihrig was hired. When she
was hired, I also explained my concerns that I had with installing a sump pump. I explained to her that I
was not doing anything illegal, I have never had water, there are no drains by my sump pump and that I
didn't even have electricity by the pit. I expressed that I did not wish to make unnecessary changes to
my property especially when the consent decree did not expressly outline "pits without pumps ". I also
expressed to her the concerns of my home inspector and how he advised me not to put in a pump.
Several months later, I was told by the Engineering Department that I would have to install a pump or fill
the pit. On the evening of March 8, 2013, I installed the sump pump and within 24 hours I had water in
my basement.
On March 9, 2013 I was tearing apart my basement and the water would not stop coming in. I was
researching whether or not I should just turn off the pump since there was a direct correlation with the
pump and the water in my basement. I must mention that the pump ran continuously. Whenever the
pump ran, more water entered the basement. During this time, my side lawn completely flooded and
wrapped around the back side the house. Please see Exhibit A.
The water that settled in my yard created a tunnel to my foundation. The yard became worse so I
decided to unplug the pump. Ironically, when I disconnected the sump pump, the water reached a
certain level in the pit, just like it had always done, just like I advised the Engineering Department.
When I installed the sump pump, I knew I disrupted the natural flow of water around the house and the
water pressure once I removed hundreds of gallons of water, possibly thousands over the course of the
day. Once I had begun to create my own little "mini well" I began sucking water from other sources and
property other than my own.
On Sunday, March 10, I contacted Kluck Construction. Dave Kluck, the owner, came over to my house
on Monday, March 11. They ripped out the drywall and found a new 9 foot foundation crack that was
allowing the water in my basement. The water that settled in the yard created a path to my foundation
and the crack was caused by the insurmountable amount of water that was pumped on my property. It
should be noted that the pressure of water is based on the depth of that water, not the circumference.
Basically, one inch of 9 foot deep water has the same pressure as a pond 9 feet deep. It is this pressure
which caused my foundation crack.
My home is relatively new, it was built in 2006. The foundation crack was a new crack from the amount
of water pressure it had against it. I looked for signs of prior water damage, the drywall was not stained,
nor was the insulation or the concrete. I wanted to keep the drywall and insulation as evidence but was
advised not to so I could avoid mold issues, especially with small children in the house. I must note that
there has never been water in my house in the year and a half that I lived here. Before buying the
house, the previous owners stated and disclosed that they never had water problems and told us they
didn't have water during the 15 inch rainstorm. I had my inspector go through this house with a fine
tooth comb looking for any signs of water damage. The house did not have any water problems until I
put in the sump pump.
In order to stop the flow of water, Kluck Construction cut four holes in the footing of my house so the
water could drain down into the rock and tiling under the house. The water from the foundation crack
then funneled down rather than going onto my basement floor. Please see Exhibit B and C.
We later hired Seal Master to seal the foundation crack. This remedy did not work, so we must repair
the crack on the outside of the foundation. This foundation crack is 6 inches from the side of our
concrete patio and the patio must be removed in order to dig down 9 feet to get to the crack.
I invited the City Engineering staff to my house to see the damage caused from the unneeded sump
pump. The engineers and inspectors stated it was in fact ground water in the pit and it was
continuously trying to seek its own level. I was advised by them to not use the sump pump or raise the
sump pump so that the float would be above the previous natural level of the pit. So essentially, I was
instructed not to use the pump they just told me to install.
My life has been turned upside down by the events that have occurred after the installation of the sump
pump. I simply just want to get my life and my house back to the point where I was before I was forced
to install an unnecessary sump pump in my house.
Current damages that I am claiming against the City of Dubuque include (estimates attached):
1. Fees to Kluck Contruction to stop the water from coming into my house = $660
2. Fees to Seal Masters to seal my foundation crack = $250 - $300. (verbal quote) Fees to re -seal
the foundation crack outside = $900 (verbal quote from Seal Masters). Otherwise I have a
written quote from Kluck Construction for $1,600.
3. Fees to repair drywall, retexture, and repaint = $500 + $345 = $845 total
4. Fees for new low quality carpet in that area = $1,139 for 391 square feet of padding and carpet.
5. Fees to tear up and replace the concrete patio $1,885
6. Fees to reseed the lawn = $250
Total = $5,979
I hope that you can see I am simply trying to get my home back in the condition it was in prior to the
install of the mandated sump pump. I simply want my life to be back to normal and want my 2 little
boys to enjoy their toy room once again. I could try and get an estimate of how much the water
disclosure and the foundation crack disclosure will devalue my home, but I am not taking it that far. I
simply just want my house restored to the condition it was in prior to the unnecessary addition of the
sump pump. If you have any questions surrounding the event, please contact me at 563 - 599 -3027.
Sincerely,
Regina Noel
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is prohibited. Please notify City of Dubuque immediately by telephone at (563) -589 -4120 of
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Confidential information may include the following:
1) Social Security Number(s)
2) Medical /Health Information
3) Personnel /Disciplinary Information
4) Bank Account Information
5) Financial lnformation
6) Credit Card Numbers
If any documentation you desire to submit to the City of Dubuque contains any of the items above
this cover sheet must be attached directly to the confidential information and indicate the type of
information that is included.
I � ��� = = , hereby certify that the attached documents
include th- following protected information:
Social Security Number(s)
Medical /Health Information
Personnel /Disciplinary Information
2
Bank Account Information
Financial Information
Credit Card Number(s)
understand that this information may be distributed within the City organization or to agents of the
City for processing and I hereby authorize the City to act accordingly taking all precautions to
protect my information from unnecessary distribution.
Signature Date