City is responsible only if known infrastructure issues are not corrected
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
The city of Whitewater’s municipal insurance policy, linked to sewer backups and flooding, will remain as-is for the time being, and a group of residents’ claims against the city for a related concern has been denied.
After a month’s worth of study and analysis, the Common Council on Feb. 18 revisited a claim filed against the city by Anna Bianco, Victor Lefaive and Lorenda Cedars. The incident prompted city officials to revisit their existing policy.
As for the larger-scale issue, Assistant City Manager Chris McDonell, who was tasked with looking into options when the council initially discussed this issue in mid-January, said the city would have to shell out more funds for a so-called no-fault policy that would cover claims such as the one filed by Bianco, Lefaive and Cedars.
Bianco and Lefaive live in a rented property in the 300 block of South Summit Street, while Cedars is the property owner. In November, they sustained $5,243 in damages from sewage backups that came as a result of heavy rainfall.
Legally, the city is only responsible to pay claims if it is aware an infrastructure-related problem exists and no action has been taken to correct it at the time an incident occurs. Tim Reel, the city’s wastewater superintendent, said he was unaware of any problems leading to the sewer line serving the home Bianco and Lefaive live within.
As part of his analysis, McDonell looked into options different municipalities take on this issue. The city of Davenport, Iowa, for instance, tacks on a $2 monthly fee to cover unexpected flooding and sewage backup incidents.
The council, however, expressed reluctance to move forward with that kind of scenario — particularly since wastewater utility fees are increasing by a large amount this year.
Since the city’s existing policy does not cover an incident such as the one Bianco, Lefaive and Cedars encountered, and there was no indication it would change, the council on a 5-2 vote officially denied the claim.
The city has not closed the book on the sewer backup and flooding issue, however. The council in its most recent deliberations formed a No Fault Sewer Backup Insurance Committee. The group’s members held their first meeting Feb. 29.
