Claim by Dean Rampson THE CITY OF
UUBUQUE MEMORANDUM
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TRACEY STECKLEIN
PARALEGAL
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To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and
Members of the City Council
DATE: February 8, 2016
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RE: Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Dean Rampson
Claimant Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Dean Rampson 02/05/16 02/09-03/27/14 Property Damage
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This is a claim in which claimant alleges that he suffered damages when his residence
was without city water for 6'/2 weeks due to a frozen water service line as a result of the
2009 Cleveland Avenue Reconstruction Project.
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
Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
Dean Rampson
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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
JVM
CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF DUBUQUE9 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 13t' 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. NamAf Claimant: lbl"5A- V 6' JE- 7TF A,I
2. Address: 6 7CLE OEL)lv n A
3. Telephone Number
4. DatAf Incident: -2/9// -312-7 It
5. Time of Incident:
6. Location of Incident (Be specific),
(,M2 CL G V 9 1-4 A.)O AVC-
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.
C L-L;>:-:1 E-8 1A)FH,4 770
8. What were weather conditions like?
49
L.6 to Z 97
9. Give name and address of any witnesses:
JIM tQiL-LS1QGUR �, P4-Q&8C- Q--
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?
14. Have you been compensated for any part or all of your claim by any N
insurance company? (If so, give name and address of insurance company and
amount paid.)
15. What amount do you claim from the City of Dubuque? X-3'iy
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16. Why do you claim the City of Dubuque is responsible?
-SEI—� S-4, L G!. , / FORMA 10
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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?
Dated h � day of ��� t���,� , 20_x.
1 �
i ture) n 17-1
(Print name) ,
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 V
4) Bank Account Information
5) Financial Information
6) Credit Card Numbers
If any documentation you desire to submit to the City of Dubuque contains any of the items above p
this cover sheet must be attached directly to the confidential information and indicate the type of j
information that is included. ;I
hereby certify that the attached documents
include the following protected information:
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Social Security Number(s) Bank Account Information
Medical/Health Information Financial Information
Personnel/Disciplinary Information Credit Card Number(s)
I 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 s
protect my information from unnecessary distribution.
Signature Date
I have read the information above and do not have any confidential documentation to submit to the
City of D bfiue as part of this Claim Against the City
Signature Dat
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February 5, 2D16
Dubuque City Council,
Mayor Roy Buol, Ric Jones, David Resnick, Kevin Lynch, Luis Del Toro,Joyce Connors,Jake Rios
Re: Frozen water service line, Dean and Jeanette Rarnpson,G7OCleveland Ave, 7/g/14to5/27Y14
Dear Council Members,
The purpose of this letter is to give you information and sources upon which you can base your decision
to approve our claim for compensation for loss of city water for six and a half weeks(47 days; 2/9/14 to
3/27/14). '
TheRamnpsons
We were the first family on the street to procure the water line steam thaw process contracted by
Willenborg Plumbing when the supply stopped around 8:14 PM 2/9/14 even though it was running at
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the recornrnendedpencil xvidth, ]imnnnyVW||enborgarrivedonthe14� with aline steamer and crew,
The line was entered via our basement meter service at 8:00 AM and at 10:30 AM we were told they
had traversed our property service line but could not get through the frozen stop box at the street
leading to the main. This failed attempt cost us $1065. Once Jimmy found this out he advised the below
mentioned folks with frozen lines on the street to excavate at the stop box,and steam from there to the
main atacost ofaround $15OOaline. This saved them the expense ofexcavating the concrete street
and saved the street from a patch scar.They took his advice and were successful in opening their
services which were frozen 3'to 6' past the stop boxes in the recently reconstructed street. Having
already spent$1065 we couldn't afford an additional $1500 or more so we decided to deal with it;and
made the noivedecision towait until the line thawed.
The zero and below cold just got worse by the day and the unbearable hardship of;filling 1Oheavy S
gallon buckets every two days at the Grandview firehouse and slopping them into the house, bathing
out ofheated pans, reusing this water again toflush the toilets(only when absolutely necessary),
frequent trips to the Laundromat, problems cooking and all the other uses of water you take for
granted. "
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ByFebruary22 wecould nmlonger bear this trying physical and mental burden. On February 251h we
boarded our pet,Jeanette took a,two week unpaid leave of absence inconveniencing her elderly clients.
| informed rnyunhappy client| could not complete her almost finished$9,OOObasement remodel
project. Our son insisted we join h|rn for two weeks in Florida. Seeing noreasonable alternative vve
agreed, hoping the line would bethawed bvthe time xvereturned on3/11. |twasn't and did not thaw
until 3/27, leading toanother 16days oftrying household depravation. VVelived with this situation at
home 29days altogether. This was not aninconvenience,for usitwas a catastrophe!
Short History
The first winter after street reconstruction on Cleveland Avenue the service lines of Kay 8a,fe|s, 205 Villa
Street(water service on Cleveland avenue)and a former resident at 914,froze and the city engineering
department correctly assuming it was in the street,had it opened and both lines were repaired and had
Styrofoam insulation installed to protect them from further freezes at no cost to the residents according
Lothe city engineering department.
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I have spoken with two long-time previous residents of our house. Reaching back to the 1940s. Ms.
Burns who now lives with her daughter on Rush Street, and Councilman Ric Jones. Both grew up in our
home during different eras. Neither recall what would have been a very memorable occasion; a frozen
water line at the residence. A water line permit was issued in 1914. Since that time, in one hundred
years of winter weather, some severely cold,there has been no further permit activity. A frozen line,
according to staff at the water department,generally leads to the replacement of the line from lead to
copper and another permit is issued at that time. To him this was evidence there had never been a
frozen line at that address until the new street was reconstructed. i
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On February 2/11/14 the waterlines of the families of Andy Schroeder, 882 Cleveland Avenue (froze
twice costing$3700) and Dan Boelyn, 886 ($1300)froze. Excavation to the stop box and steaming to the
freeze both 3'to 6' in the street(according to Jimmy W.) reopened the lines. Both steam jobs were
contracted by Willenborg plumbing.
Joshua Schroeder, a single man,796 Cleveland Avenue elected to not attempt to open his frozen line
because of the expense and suffered with no water from 2/2/14 to 4/4/14. He was able to take
advantage of relative's good will to get by. Sixty days with no water!
Dubuque Engineering Department
Prior to leaving I met with City Manager Mike V.M. to request the street be opened as it was for the first
two frozen lines. He requested I meet with engineering. City engineers Gus P., Bob S. and another man
whose name I don't recall told me their inspectors did not notate whether, which, or if any service lines
were protected by Styrofoam during the street construction, a common method if there is a chance the
line may freeze. He stated he was pretty sure the two repaired earlier freezes (at 205 and 914 Cleveland
Ave.) had Styrofoam freeze protection installed after their repair but wasn't sure the exact depth of
those water lines or the circumstances of the freeze at those addresses at that time.
The department, as stated, requested the contractor repair the first two frozen lines by excavating the
street from the stop box to the main as I pointed out to M.V.M. At this meeting I requested the
department open the street for us as was done for the other two properties but was met with
equivocation and artful dodging. Why we were treated differently?
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I am an urban planner with a background in civil engineering. Reconstruction of the surface of a street
with concrete and replacement of all infrastructure is a major municipal investment done only once
every 25 to 30 years. By redoing Cleveland Avenue completely new, Engineering had not only the I
opportunity but the obligation to do the due diligence to assure the property owners all aspects of the
job are considered including the assurance all applicable standards are followed. Where problems such
as water line freezes could be anticipated, insulating them during construction. After completion there
should be no future interruptions from freezes which involve major costs and inconveniences to
residents and costly street excavations and patching. Failure to do this will,as we found out, result in
the invocation of Murphy's Law; no water, in the middle of winter.
One idea I take away from my time in civil engineering it's always a good idea to overbuild, be it bridges,
levees, buildings, etc. This strategy is a kind of compensation for unknowns such as 500 year floods or
extreme cold winters that could occur. Building at the margin of the standards is never a good idea.
The Council will remember we Cleveland Avenuers acceded to cost cutting measures on the street by
approving its narrowing. Cost cutting measures should have been "off the table"on water line work.
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67UCleveland Avenue
Before the reconstruction of Cleveland Avenue our driveway apron was not as wide as the new one
allowing the stop box to be located in the soil, giving it and the water line added protection from frost.
The city engineering department did not follow state standards in locating it in concrete. According to
the Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications(SUDASare professional construction standards for
civil engineers and contractors applicable to Iowa), stop boxes should not be placed in concrete
driveway aprons (Chapter 4C-1-F) because frost goes deeper under concrete pavement than in topsoil.
our stop box was placed in my subzero exposed shoveled concrete driveway apron,4'frorn the
centerline of a 14" concrete storm sewer'buried 50" deep-in the subzero exposed snow plowed concrete
street(EXHIBIT A). That stop box and the water line were automatically put at risk of frost by being
surrounded by concrete.
' VVatersen/ice |inesshou|dbeconstTuctedsothotthebotornofaseweris18"fromtopo[thevvater
line(Chapter 4['1'G.) This is to assure the sewer is far enough away from the water line that frost will
not be drawn to it through the physics of heat/cold transfer. There is large concrete catch basin 10'
from our water line that filled the storm sewer air and impacted the soil it contacted to weeks of
subzero (-25 degrees or more)temperatures.
As stated above,all water lines that have frozen were on the south side of Cleveland Avenue 3' to 6'
from the stop boxes,the same location as the concrete storm sewer they crossed under. Was the 18"
standard followed? No inspection notes on this question are available, nor are there any notes on water
line insulation efforts ifany. When I was a storm sewer construction inspector in Dubuque engineering I
was told to keep notes on such vital factors for later reference.
By measuring the stop box depth from the sidewalk minus 5"to street level it's 60"to the top of the
waterline, and the depth of the storm sewer bottom also from street level,50", a 10"clearance
between the bottom of the storm sewer and the top of the water line assuming the waterline was
placed below the sewer,(if not itsurely would have fiozen.) |naddition the catch basins near proximity
to the water line as mentioned above, mandated extra protection which obviously was not done.
We believe,given the potential for a water line freeze at our address,engineering should have
anticipated, notated and required the contractor to insulate considering all the above mentioned factors
and effects. This is their professional mandate. Avery simple,cheap,quick remedy was available
through the use of Styrofoarn insulation around any potentially vulnerable water line area or stop box as
discussed above. That simple solution was overlooked orignored atour expense. Being proactive|sa
professional engineering requirement.
We had almost 26°ofsnow on the ground in our front yard until the 3mweek of March. Snow is a great
ground insulator against frost so |'rn confident our property water service was well protected. After the
ground thawed out there were nobreaks orleaks. According toJimmy VV.the snow depth inour front -
yard on 2/9/14 would have protected our property service since,according to his last winter's
excavation jobs,frost had only penetrated to around 2B' at such snow depth. Onthe other hand our
water line from the stop� boxtothernainvvasunderouryhove|eddrivevvayaprun,sidevvo|kondp|oxved
street allowing all this concrete,toconduct deep frost.
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Summary
The following comments sum up our case for relief.
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• The city engineering department elected to ignore the professional guidelines of the Iowa
Statewide Urban Design Standards (SUDAS) by failing to properly advise its inspectors to notate
water lines at risk of frost freeze and by; assuring their placement at proper depths,clearances
and/or the proactive application of insulation in areas deemed vulnerable.
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• The city engineering department ignored the Iowa SUDAS by failing to advise its inspectors the
stop box at 670 Cleveland Avenue should be in the parking soil, not in the concrete driveway I
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apron to avoid the risk of free up.
• The department failed to recognize the effect of the storm sewer and the near by catch basin on
the physics of heat/cold (frost)transfer near water lines.
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Costs and Expenses
Expenses are the monetary losses or outlays; costs are the related human and emotional tolls resulting
from the loss of city water service.
My wife and I experienced the whole gamut of emotions during the 6%week hole ripped in our life;
anger, helplessness, depression, anxiety, impatience, shortness of temper, loss of conjugal relations, and
dread of costs. Even such simple sanitary necessities as washing hands frequently became an issue.
How do you put a price on weeks of emotional angst? How do we get compensated for that? The worst
was not wanting to go back to or be in our home. Our place of peace and comfort, the center of our
lives was suddenly dreaded.
At first we alienated our daughter with our incessant demands on her water,forcing us to go to the l
Grandview firehouse for water every two days. (Imagine the floor mess ten S gallon buckets make every l
two days).
In terms of expenses; increased eating out or taking out food,frequent trips to the Laundromat, buying
of bottled water, and gasoline usage, etc.
Coping with the situation became unbearable. We had two options, 1. Move into an impersonal
motel/hotel or, 2.Join our son at his insistence in a warm clime in his apartment for two weeks
necessitating;the boarding of our pet, travel,food, groceries and other personal expenses, and
occasional dining and entertainment as well as some utilities expenses for our son, plus some gas for his
car as a contribution for his generosity. The hotel alternative at what could have been 4 weeks would
have cost$2304 @ $118/day(the average price of a Dubuque hotel room for two people) plus increased
dining out expenditures. A 14 days hotel stay would have cost$1652, over$700 more than airfare.
What would you have done in our shoes? We opted for the latter.
This was not a vacation, it was an unwanted exile. Both my wife's clients and my client were adversely
affected, and our son, a digital arts teaching professor at North Miami Dade College,was
inconvenienced. We missed our pet and the comforts of our home. We had to be frugal with our
spending. All toll this disaster cost us over$3600 dollars. We had to borrow this money and will be
paying on it for the next 18 months.
I believe we have presented you with a clear-cut factual, reasoned, and substantiated case for relief.
Please help us put the burden of this matter behind us by kindly agreeing. Thank you.
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Dean and Jeanette Rampson
570 Cleveland Avenue, 52003
553 582 4524
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Expenses
Willenborg steam statement: $1065
Airfare Dubuque to Miami,AA round trip, 2 seats: 935
Hotel prices, Dubuque March 2014,two guests
Holiday Inn $135
Julien lnn 205
Best Western Midway 130
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Dayslnn 73
Hampton Inn 100
Baymont Inn 55
Average price per stay/day-$118x14 days=$1552. Saved$718 over
Hotels by leaving Dubuque. M
Board Pet at Pet Med: 203
Food costs:
Total food costs Dubuque and Miami: 822
Jeanette's lost income: 14 days-$11,000/52 weeks= 422
Total: $3449
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