Four homeowners near B Street at the base of Arnold Hill in Aberdeen say a broken pipe at the Fairview Reservoir made problems during the early January flooding even worse, sending water through backyards and into basements. They have filed damage claims against the city totaling more than $120,000, but the city says it doesn’t plan to pay.
Richard Pennant, a Hoquiam resident who owns a rental home on B street, filed his claim with the city for $45,000 under the condition that the city pay to demolish the house, or $60,000 if Pennant has to demolish the property, according to the claim form. The 24-inch supply line from the reservoir, Pennant said, sent water down Sixth Avenue behind the property, across the backyard, into the house and over B Street on the other side.
Pennant, a city council member in Hoquiam, owns and rents 36 properties.
His dispute has since become an argument over what caused the pipe to break, with the city maintaining that it was a result of land movement. Pennant argues the city’s maintenance of the pipe was substandard.
Pennant filed his claim days after the flood, and a week later received a notice from the insurance company explaining that the city wasn’t obliged to pay damages. Pennant talked with City Attorney Eric Nelson on Wednesday, who told him that the next option would be to bring a lawsuit to the city.
He then brought his case to to the city council meeting Wednesday night.
“I’m quite upset about this,” Pennant told council members during his public comment, “and I’d like to think the city of Aberdeen will make good.”
Mayor Bill Simpson, in response, said many residents echoed Pennant’s sentiments following the flood.
“The flood happened, the earth moved, there’s not a lot we can really do about it,” he said. “You’re not the only one in this world that got affected by the flood.”
Pennant was quick to retort.
“I didn’t get affected by the flood,” he said, “I got affected by the reservoir or lack of maintenance thereof, dumping thousands of gallons of water onto our rental house.”
It remains unclear how much water drained from the reservoir when the pipe broke, and how long the pipe’s valve remained open. Aberdeen Public Works Director Malcolm Bowie had not returned a phone call seeking comment as of press time, and officials in the city’s water department were unavailable.
In the meeting, Bowie told Pennant he disagreed, adding that the broken pipe had nothing to do with maintenance.
“Our maintenance was exemplary,” he said.
On Friday morning, the property at 1708 N. B St. had been almost entirely gutted and mold had claimed nearly every wall in the kitchen and much of the living room on the two-story house’s lower level.
Michelle Kerr had been renting the house for about seven years, Pennant said. Her boyfriend, Bill Jones, lives directly across B Street, and filmed the flooding the morning it happened. Jones said the furniture inside the house was floating high enough to touch the ceiling.
City Attorney Eric Nelson, on Wednesday, said the city’s insurance doesn’t cover losses to private homes, and that an adjuster for the city’s insurance company found no indication of negligence in regard to the city’s maintenance on the pipe.
Filing a claim against the city is a required step before a lawsuit can be filed. Nelson said a claimant must wait 60 days to file a lawsuit following a claim.
Pennant said he wasn’t backing down from suing the city. “That’s exactly what I intend to do,” he said.
Along with the four claims from property owners in the B Street area, a renter has filed a seperate claim. There are three others involving flood-related damage the city is allegedly responsible for.
Kyle Mittan, 360-537-3932, kmittan@thedailyworld.com. Twitter: @KyleMittan
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