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Douglas came before the council Monday evening to explain what
happened and to say that she needs help with some of the expense.
She submitted a list of some of the costs, mostly from losses in the
first incident. She has insurance, but the deductible is $1,000. She
temporarily borrowed from one of her other household funds to pay
the $346 for the cleanup that was necessary. She said that she did
not include all of what she lost in the list that she submitted.
Some of what she lost was irreplaceable: pictures, her girls' awards
and other items. Her total costs including property loss were over
$3,000. Douglas lives at 1114 Fourth St. She said that the sewer
backed up twice that week.
She discovered the first instance when she returned from work on
a Monday evening, March 17. She considered that it was after hours
for city services. She called family and friends to help her clean.
Garbage pickup was the next morning, and the damaged goods went out
to the garbage.
She learned that some of her neighbors had some backup in their
basements at the same time also. They did not have as much loss.
She called the sewer department the next day, but the cause of
the problem could not be found.
She was at home when the problem occurred again on Friday, March
21. She called and sewer manager Dave Kitzmiller came out and saw
the evidence, but again could not find the source of the problem.
Kitzmiller said that the sewer department had been out there to
clear that sewer line on Thursday, just the day before this second
occurrence. That address is in one of about 15 areas in Lincoln that
are known to have problems, and for that reason that line is on a
monthly maintenance schedule, Kitzmiller said.
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He added that the department had been done their regular maintenance
there about a month prior to the first incident.
Working through the recovery process Douglas learned that for
insurance claim purposes, she should have taken photos of the
damaged goods before they were disposed of.
Alderman Kathy Horn emphasized that this was a good time to point
out to other Lincoln residents that the sewer department has someone
available day or night when there is a problem. Had Douglas known
this, she could have called the sewer department and gotten someone
to come out during the first incident.
The Lincoln Sewer Department phone number is 217-732-4030. When
it is after hours, a cell phone number is provided in the recorded
message. The cell phone number changes from day to day according to
who is on duty.
Aldermen Marty Neitzel and Verl Prather agreed that this was the
type of matter to decide on a case-by-case basis. A motion was made
to extend Douglas $1,000, the amount of both her and the city's
insurance deductible. The motion included that Douglas, the city of
Lincoln and EMC/BOC -- the managing company for the city's sewer
system -- would all submit the claim to their insurance.
Voting yes were Neitzel, Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Dave Armbrust,
Prather, Benny Huskins, Melody Anderson, Horn, Joni Tibbs and Jeff
Hoinacki.
Buzz Busby voted no.
[By JAN YOUNGQUIST] |
