Damage from Storm sewer
Homeowner settles with city
Storm drain backup damaged Mr. Monty Tuttle’s property in his basement. His home located at 661 Meadowview Lane was victim to storm sewers backup into his basement due to water backing up from blocked sewer pipes.
The Mayor asked Norm Gabehart to look at the personal property and see if the city could do something. The Mayor cited that the city insurance company already denied the claim.
Tuttle originally requested for a sum between $5,000 & $6,000 from the city. Gabehart looked at Tuttles property at the request of the Mayor & decided that the depreciation was not adding up to the requested sum.
Were Mr. Gabehart was taught expertise in appraising depreciation and current property values no one knows. This is another surprise duty/skill of the Director of operations that no one was aware of.
Mr. Gabehart approved the sum of $2,261.24 based on “His skilled” expertise as an appraiser. That sum was to include payment from the city of $500 that the Mayor instructed the Board of Works to pay to ease the burden of insurance deductible.
The city got a bargain by bluffing Tuttle and his acceptance. Any first year law school grad could tear the city apart for having an inexperienced appraiser set property value.
As to the cause of the blockage, that is the only things that cannot be definitely define who is at fault, partially. Government statue laws in drainage address this. But that doesn’t matter because any city storm sewer is supposed to be installed to handle absolutely anything (really…anything) that is released through a standard 4-inch house drain. By law a city storm sewer has to handle anything imaginable, if you can get it through you house drain. That is why we have building code for houses to use certain size drains, and storm sewers a certain size.
So with blockage in the city sewer portion, the city is at fault and Tuttle would have better served taking his case to court. Also Tuttle should investigate whether a damper is located anywhere on the sewer or on his responsibly portion. Dampers are required to prevent backup into homes from happening.
It may have taken a little longer in court, but the payoff would have been several thousand additional dollars for damage. The city indeed got away with this one.
Whispering Trail road repair gave the city a unexpected obstacle. The city started road repairs on the addition and took the time to add new drainage in only parts the designs. The thought was that this is a very wet area and acccording to Mayor Henderson and Richards of CDS.
When the city decided to do road work at Whispering Trails they first repaved the main entrance. According to some residents that was the “best road” in the subdivision. They was wondering why the city choose to do that first. Especially since many of the other roads were in more desparate need of repair.
According to Richard Detorrre the entire addition is loaded with underground springs. When asked how he knew that he said the water company explained it after most residents was calling about what they believed was water line leaks.
Detorre put a drain at the end of his drive to catch the water at divert in from between his drive and the street. In the winter water can gather under concrete, when it freezes it can raise, crack and distort it. He says he tried various things because the drive was separating from the street. We found several drives where water had frozen and pushed drives and the street apart. This is a common sight in Whispering Trails.
At the Past Board of Works May 22nd 2008 meeting Mayor Henderson stated that he took a look at the area before they began road repair at the entire area was a water problem. Water was standing at every point you could think off. Mayor Henderson also stated that the $22,473.50 was necessary to redo the design and put in larger drains and a curb inlet to drain the water.
The disturbing fact that we found is that Timber Lane cir. in costing the city a additional $22,473.50 because of something that should have been address before the project started.
The person or persons and or firm responsible for putting the specification on the project scope of work should have seen this problem with the one of the lowest lying roads in the addition. The entire area around it falls back into this street. A simple breif survey of the area reveals that a water problem exist. An old cliché is “that you only have to know two things to be a plumber” 1) crap doesn’t run uphill, and 2) payday is on Friday. The point you don’t have to be very smart to know that water will run down an elevation. With very little examination of the area any person with a trivial amount of construction knowledge could see that Timber Lane Cir. Needed to be prepared for excessive water. But no drains were installed. Someone is dropping the ball here and that someone is responsible for this additional expense, they should have caught this prior to bid release.
The city of Greenwood seems to keep handing out contracts that are not thought out or are poorly planned. Contracts that the scope is prepared by inexperienced uncapable personel. Greenwood has absulotely no excuse for this change order other than poor planning and lack of experience.
Mayor Henderson said he did a survey of the area before the project. One could presume that Norm Gabehart was included at some point in that. But neither has any construction experience, yet the Mayor and Gabehart was making a “survey of the area?
Gabehart assigned by Mayor Henderson is overseeing all construction projects for this city. He has no prior construction experience, but he will presume to tell anyone how the best way to handle constructin bids? His track record proves his inexperience. As working in Greenwoods maintaince garage he never was in the construction sector. He now has, according the Mayor discression, the experience to tell experienced contractors how to work? Where he got that expertise is unknown. But one thing is factual, The Mayor and Norm Gabehart have no construction experience and should not be giving instructions on the subject.
Greenwood has The redevelopment of “Old downtown & Old city park” that the Mayor is going to sell the public “His Vision” that he is quite aware of what is happening at any given point. Yet at this point he cannot even choose qualified personel to work in some respective positions this city.
But one thing is certain Mayor Henderson Guides all the city workers and is responsible for each of them and their actions, the “Might Henderson” is the one to blame for this mess of poor construction projects. Henderson will use certain contractors and are repeatedly issuing change orders on poor designs and preparation. This city is spending way to much on a same contractors year after year.
Perhaps Milestone has some “certain people” from Greewood on their payroll that Greenwood citizens are not aware of? Maybe, Maybe not, we do not know, (yet) but something is guiding the decission to award this company not only contracts, but very lucrative repeated change orders on poorly planned contracts, that should have been in the original specifications in the Scope of work.
One fact is certain , Milestone is always at the feeding troff and they are always getting very large change orders on seemingly each and every contract. Greenwood is paying premium dollars without proper personel setting specifications on contracts for the scope of work. The results is Greenwood is spending way to much money without regard for the citizens of Greenwood.
The problem is, we have a Mayor who only listens to the citizens 8 months every four years. Then he spends repampedly without regard of the consequences. The seemingly Rubber Stamps support this philosophy of administration.
I was once told by a very high ranking Leaded in Greenwood, “I am a Christain, and I don’t say that lightly”. I do wonder if he has any idea of what he is actually saying at all or is he just preprogramed to tell people what he thinks they want to hear? Belonging to a Baptist, Catholic, Methodist or whoever doesn’t not make you a “Christian”, it is your actions. Yours has been anything but…Christian.
