City will not pay to repair damage to home
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on April 12, 2017 10:03 AM
A Goldsboro homeowner who sustained nearly $20,000 in property damage from a backed-up city sewer line has learned that the city will not pay for the repairs.
Mary O'Tuel, owner of the two-story Brookwood Lane home, and her daughter, Maria, reached out to the Goldsboro City Council in March after being denied coverage by the city's insurance company.
After meeting with Mayor Chuck Allen and Councilman Bill Broadaway and gathering repair estimates, city officials were unable to help.
"There's nothing I can do for her," Allen said. "The law is on our side as not being negligent. It's just a bad situation. It's just a very, very bad situation where nobody wins."
For the city to be liable for the damages, city staff would need to know a problem existed and fail to take appropriate action, said Scott Stevens, city manager.
The denial letter from the insurance adjuster concluded the city was not negligent and not responsible for the loss.
"When the city has liability, we pay," Stevens said. "We don't pay if we feel bad. That's not the way the city should be run. It's public money."
At the time of the sewer spill, in late February, staff were not aware that there was any problem with the sewer system, Stevens said.
The city is also required by state law to maintain the sewer system by cleaning 10 percent of the lines each year, and currently exceeds that threshold, said Rick Fletcher, Goldsboro's public works director.
The suspected cause of the Brookwood Lane sewer backup is grease, a common problem in public sewer systems.
On the day of the spill, Maria O'Tuel was at home and noticed the toilet overflowing, which it did steadily for an hour and 40 minutes.
A private plumber was called in but the most that could be done was to reroute the overflow from the house to the side yard.
Eventually, they learned that the problem was coming from the city's sewer line. The overflow stopped after city crews were able to unclog the pipe.
Raw sewage filled nearly half of the first floor of the house, including the kitchen and den, as well as the duct system. The O'Tuels estimated anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 in damages. They were denied homeowner insurance coverage.
The O'Tuels are still living with friends and have started working on the house. When the work is finished, they plan to submit the paperwork to the city, Maria O'Tuel said.
"We are still working on things," she said. "We have put our energies towards getting all the repairs (completed). Then, we'll submit things to them.
"We are still out of the house, and the floors were ripped out last week. We've learned to cope with the disarray while still fulfilling work responsibilities, repairs and appreciating the kindness of friends."
Allen said the only relief the O'Tuels may find is from taking the issue to court.
Paying for the cost of the repairs could set a precedence for the city and lead to repeated requests for damage reimbursements, for such things as vehicle damage from a street pothole, Stevens said.
"If we pay her, then you'll have to pay everybody," Allen said. "There's nothing she could have done to prevent it. What happened is a very, very rare occurrence."