Flooding damage: Radio transmission may help decide who should pay
By Andrea Hein - STAFF WRITER
Source - Herald News Online

LOCKPORT (IL) New information surfaced late Tuesday that could affect whether aldermen offer additional financial help to two residents whose homes were flooded when a water main broke in February.

Interim City Administrator James Antole told council members at Wednesday's meeting that he has requested a copy of the radio transmissions linked to that morning's incident.

"I think we should hear the tapes, and let the tapes speak for themselves," Antole said.

In the early morning of Feb. 9, a city water main broke and flooded the basements of two Cove Avenue homes. The city's insurance company won't pay the claim because it thinks the city was not negligent.

So the two affected residents may be stuck footing the bill for the restoration of their homes and the cost of replacing damaged goods if city leaders do not agree to help them. Officials already said the city would pay the homeowners' cleanup costs.

The tapes may help to resolve a two-hour discrepancy between when the residents and the city said the water was finally shut off. They also may pinpoint who called off an initial dispatch for the water department a move that delayed crews from fixing the pipe by more than an hour.

Originally the fire department, who was dousing a nearby fire, was blamed for telling dispatchers there was no main break, but Antole said Wednesday that someone else may have made that report.

Because one of the homeowners does not have the type of insurance to cover flood-related losses, and the other's insurance only covers a portion of the bill, aldermen briefly discussed personal insurance policies.

When asked by Ward 2 Alderman Brian Smith whether someone living outside a flood plain can get flood insurance, City Attorney Ron Caneva said no.

Ward 1 Alderwoman Diane Seiler advised them, and all Lockport residents, to invest in backup and sump pump insurance. In this case, the residents' homes were flooded when the water entered through the sump pump pit.

"It's out there. It's relatively inexpensive," Seiler said of the insurance.

Meanwhile Ward 3 Alderman Greg Piazza said people with sump pumps in their home have the potential for flooding and added the city should not be held responsible when that happens.

Officials will now vote on the issue of giving the two homeowners additional financial assistance in mid-May.

View Andrea Hein's Web log at blogs.suburbanchicagonews.com/ahein/ or contact her at (815) 729-6018 or via e-mail at ahein@scn1.com.

04/28/06