August 7, 2018
The city has settled two lawsuits related to the Oct. 1, 2014, and May 7, 2015, heavy rains that left several hundred people with sewer water in their basements.
The city has agreed to pay Susan J. Dermer $7,500 related to her lawsuits in a settlement where the city did not admit liability or fault.
Sewer water headed to the Theresa Street Wastewater Treatment Facility backed up into basements of hundreds of homes after the two heavy rains.
The city attorney said the two storms, considered acts of God, were responsible for the backups — not any city negligence — and any claims related to either of the storms would be denied.But the City Council set up a $1 million disaster assistance cleanup fund and paid $368,779 on 148 claims for the two storms, based on city reports. Property owners could claim as much as $5,000 per property for each of the two storms for cleanup costs, but not restoration costs.
