Claim by Sondra KochMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TRACEY STECKLEIN
PARALEGAL
MF,MORANDUM
To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and
Members of the City Council
DATE: April 17, 2014
RE: Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Sondra Koch
Claimant Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Sondra Koch 04/17/14 01/24/14 Property Damage
This is a claim in which claimant alleges that a water main break on Foye Street caused
damage to claimant's home and foundation.
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
Bob Green, Water Department Manager
Dan Brown, Fire Chief
Sondra Koch
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: o tearyrye koch
2. Address: 2) go roeie
3. Telephone Number ( &3) -5 WY / 7
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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?
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9. Give name and address of any witnesses: t,,)-427. 0- - Car? ir)veSt
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11. Was anyone injured? (If so, give names, addresses, and extent of injuries).
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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?
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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 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?
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Confidential
This communication and any attachments may contain information which is confidential
and privileged by law and is for the use of the designated recipient. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are hereby, notified that you have received this communication in
error, and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of its contents
is prohibited. Please notify City of Dubuque immediately by telephone at (563)-589-4120 of
your receipt of these items and destroy the communication and any attachments
immediately. Further disclosure of this information may violate state and federal
restrictions.
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.
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include the following protected information:
Social Security Number(s)
Medical/Health Information
Personnel/Disciplinary Information
, hereby certify that the attached documents
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.
Date
Sondra Leanne Koch
2280 Foye Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
April 14, 2014
City of Dubuque
City Clerk Office City Hall
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Dear City of Dubuque:
I am submitting this binder for the purpose of reimbursement of damages caused
to my property located at 2280 Foye Street, Dubuque, Iowa, as related to a City
of Dubuque water main break.
At approximately 7:10 am on January 24, 2014, I was awoken by my doorbell.
Subsequently I smelled smoke and immediately grabbed the fire extinguisher,
which I gave to my fiance to find the source of the fire. At that point I called 911
due to the large amount of smoke that filled the main floor of my home, and
informed the dispatcher that my house was on fire. I answered the door while he
attended to the origination of the smoke, and was greeted by my neighbor
located at 2260 Foye Street. She informed me that there was a large amount of
water rushing and pooling against 3 sides of my house. I was confused because
I thought she was going to inform me of my home being on fire. I then went back
inside and found my fiance in the basement, unable to find the source of the fire,
but standing in several inches of water. At that point, I grabbed my dog, and my
fiance and I evacuated the house. The Dubuque Fire Department, EMS, and
Dubuque Police Department arrived a few short minutes later.
There was a lot going on simultaneously at the time of the incident. These facts I
know to be true and accurate:
• Dubuque Fire Department opened the windows in the home and let the
smoke out of the house.
O They entered the basement where the smoke was originating from, but
did not find the source of the fire. Although they did acknowledge that
there was a fire; most likely electrical, due to the nature of the smoke.
O The Dubuque Fire Department shut off the gas and electricity to the home
while they inspected.
• They opened the 2 back doors to my home in the basement to let out
several inches of standing water, and the water that continued to pour into
my basement from the south and west sides of my home.
• The Dubuque Police Department asked me where the smoke came from;
I informed them that it came from the basement, and that the Dubuque
Fire Department was still investigating.
City of Dubuque
April 17, 2014
Page 2
® The Dubuque Water Department arrived and investigated the source of
the water.
• The Dubuque Water Department shut off the water to my home and the
water continued to still enter my home.
• The Dubuque Water Department worked several hours to locate the
source of the water main break, using several pieces of equipment. They
located the break approximately 10-15 feet uphill from my home in the
middle of the street.
• I was informed that it was a city water main break and that there was a
large area that needed to be backfilled leading up to my home. To my
knowledge and witness, the area under the street was backfilled, but not
all the way to my home. The ground is currently soft, and sinking since
the ground thawed.
• The water department worked all day and left after dark; after they
repaired the main, and repaired the street. The street still contains a
temporary patch that is sinking as well.
• During their repair, I contacted Kanndo Professional Cleaning Service to
begin the cleanup process. They removed several inches of mud, and
work continued over the next couple of weeks to remove the damaged
flooring, walls, and mold and mildew remediation. I immediately had to
give them a $500 deposit to begin work. My niece stays at my home
every other weekend and I did not was to have an unsafe living
environment.
• 1 also called Total Plumbing & Heating to service my boiler that was not
working. The weather was cold on January 24th, and by the time my heat
was restored, the home was 45 degrees inside. The weather was also
forecasted to be 40 degrees below zero the next couple of days.
• When Total Plumbing & Heating inspected my boiler, they found that
there was a fire in the electrical compartment, and determined that to be
the cause of my fire. The boiler was not salvageable and needed to be
replaced immediately. They did not have the exact boiler in stock, and
used a similar replacement item.
O Throughout the day, I inventoried damaged items and took pictures of the
water outside, the crews working, and inside damage.
• After cleanup was completed, I started working on getting estimates from
reputable companies in Dubuque to repair the damage in my home
caused by the water main break.
It was difficult to get estimates due to the fact that certain contractors did not
want to bid on the property. My home is located on a large hill with a house
located very closely to me on the south side. This makes it very difficult to get
the necessary equipment in to complete work on the basement. I have however
gotten all necessary estimates in to complete the work, and they are included in
the binder for you to view.
City of Dubuque
April 17, 2014
Page 3
I am a registered nurse in Dubuque and purchased this home in August of 2013.
This is my first home and I am very proud of the work that I have done to it. The
home was purchased from my Aunt, whom just recently passed away at the age
of 56 from cancer. It was her wishes that I have the home, and that I love it just
as much as she did. At the time of the incident, and currently, my fiance and
brother reside with me. My brother has joint custody of his daughter, and she
resides with us every other weekend and other random times while on school
break and in the summer. My brother is currently working on obtaining full legal
custody.
The home is three stories; that includes the basement. The main floor and the
second floor is where my fiance and I reside. These two floors have a kitchen,
living room, bathroom, and four bedrooms. The basement is where my brother
stays and helps to pay the mortgage. This area was completely finished and
includes a large family room, a kitchen, a full bathroom, a sunroom, a furnace
room/office, and a laundry room. The basement area is what incurred all of the
damage. We have no known damage upstairs at this point. You will see that the
estimate for damaged items includes all of his personal items. He is a long time
mechanic at Berry Plastics in Peosta. He works night shift, and thankfully was
not home at the time of the incident; but arrived shortly thereafter.
I am only asking the City of Dubuque to pay for damages to repair the home to its
original state with comparable materials. I asked for a small amount of money
related to my time working on this claim, which comes nowhere close to the
actual amount of time involved. I also am seeking replacement values for my
brothers' personal belongings. We kept nearly all of the damaged items and
have also included a disc of pictures of the items for proof of damage. Some
receipts, especially for the new furniture and appliances, are available upon
request. Because of the extensive damage to the foundation, we contacted the
City of Dubuque, and they sent Mike from Building Services to bear witness to
the extent of damage. He agreed with the contractors bid to repair the
foundation. Sunlight can be seen through the multiple cracks/shifting in the
foundation.
hope that I have included everything necessary to submit this claim. Copies of
this submission were made and are available at your request. I am happy to
provide any more information that I can, and look forward to hearing from you. I
can be contacted as follows:
Mail: Sondra Koch, 2280 Foye Street, Dubuque, Iowa, 52001
Telephone: (563) 564-3577
Work: Finley Hospital Intensive Care Unit (563) 589-2421
Email: Sondylea@yahoo.com
City of Dubuque
April 17, 2014
Page 4
Thank you for your time. Sincerely,
/
(7r)cCw rciL,/
Sondra Leanne Koch
Homeowner at 2280 Foye Street, Dubuque, Iowa