Claim Response - Wild, RobertBARRY A. LINDAHL,
CORPORATION COUNSEL,
C CUE
MEMO
To:
Mayor Terrance M. Duggan and
Members of the City Council
DATE:
December 28, 2001
RE:
Claim Against the City by Robert Wild
Claimant
Date of Claim
Date of Loss
Nature of Claim
Robert Wild 12110/01 12/02/01
Property Damage
The Claimant states that his suit was damaged after he fell into a manhole near the Five
Flags Civic Center.
According to the report of John Klostermann, Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor, he
states that they had no prior notice of a problem with this manhole lid. During his
inspection, he noticed that the lid was not a standard lid used for sanitary or storm sewer
manholes. A further inspection revealed that this is a utility vault used by the Gas
Company and not maintained by the City. Therefore, it is his recommendation that this
claim be denied. The Legal Department concurs with this recommendation.
BAL/tls
Attachment
Cc;
Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
Jeanne Schneider, City Clerk
John Klostermann, Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
Robert Wild
SUITE 330, HARBOR ViEW PLACE, 300 MAIN STREET DUBUQUE, IA 52001-6944
TELEPHONE (563) 583-4113 / FAX (563) 583-1040 / EMAIL BALESQ~MWCI.NET
Operadorm & Maintenance Department
925 Kerper Boulevard
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-2338
(3~9)
(319) 5894252
December 20, 2001
Barry Lindahl
Corporation Council
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52004-4864
Dear Barry:
This letter will respond to the claim filed by Mr. Robert C. Wild.
I inspected the manhole on Monday, December 3, 2001 after I receive a notice
from the police dispatch center that Mr. Wild had notified the police of his fall.
We had no prior notice of a problem with this manhole lid. During my inspection I
noticed that this lid was not a standard lid used for sanitary or storm sewer
manholes. A further inspection revealed that this is a utility vault used by the
Gas Company and not maintained by the City.
It is therefore my recommendation to deny the claim because this is not a city
manhole and we did not have any prior knowledge of any possible defect.
If you need any additional information concerning this claim, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Street/Sewer Maintenance Supervisor
Service People Integri~ Responsibility Innovation Teaznwork