Paddock Lake board divided on sewer cleanup claims

By Gail Peckler-Dziki~Correspondent

The Paddock Lake Village Board heard three claims for sewer clean up that followed a Jan. 29 sewer main back up.

Ron and Cynthia Dunham, Savannah Hansen and Steve and Judy Ellis all made claims for clean up and some damaged goods replacement to the village administrator, who passed that information on to the finance and administration committee.

That committee, chaired by outgoing president Marlene Goodson, could not determine exactly what caused that sewer main back up. Village attorney Jeff Davison said that had the back up been in a lateral, the portion that connects the main to the home, the village would not be involved. The committee compromised by considering the covering of clean-up costs.

“We can’t determine the cause of the sewer main back up,” he explained. “It could be any number of things and from several sources.”

Goodson said, “This is tenderness from the village toward residents.”

When it came time to vote, the Dunham request was first. The motion to grant $1,000 for cleanup passed on a four to three vote, with trustees Chris Bucko, Pat Warner, Jake Hansen and President Goodson voting yes. Trustees Barb Brenner, Terry Burns and Jill Smart said no.

Burns questioned Hansen’s vote, since Hansen’s wife Savannah, had the next claim. Davison said that there was no conflict and Hansen could vote on the Dunham claim.

 

Savannah Hansen asked for $1,925 for clean up, since she had no insurance for this. Since this was a rental property, Hansen explained that her insurance company did not offer that rider.

That motion failed in a three to three tie with no votes coming from Brenner, Burns and Smart. After that vote was taken, Davison offered a word of caution.

“You must have documentation like receipts for anything you consider paying and you must treat each claim the same.” He said. “Since the board approved the first claim but not the second, you could be putting the village in danger of legal action.”

Bucko asked about taking another vote that night, but Davison said it would have to wait until next month. That meeting will occur after the next election and Bucko, Goodson and Warner did not run again and new board members will take those spots.

The board voted unanimously not to cover the claim by Steve and Judy Ellis for just over $8,000 since that claim was for damaged depreciated goods stored in the basement where the back up occurred and there were no receipts for clean up costs.

The board also plans to address the lack of policy for situations like these at a later date. They also voted to add a rider to their insurance policy to cover clean up cost claims.

The prorated rider for this year will cost $4,798 and hereafter $5,233 per year.


Posted

in

by

Tags: