Minutes - Council - 06/25/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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their basements and things were taken care of very quickly in those situations. She stated that having this sitting for nearly 20 days at this point is only making it worse and it will continue to get worse as time goes on. She said the County needs pressure put on them to act quickly to rectify this for the affected residents. Councilmember Howell apologized to the residents who are going through this horrific situation. She echoed Councilmember Musgrove’s point that they need to put maximum pressure on the County. She noted that this is a health issue and if it is not taken care of, it is the City’s obligation to make sure it is taken care of. She added that the Council was not notified about this when it happened. Councilmember Woestehoff asked if they have all of the addresses of the homes that were affected by this. Scott Shoemacher, 6150 Rivlyn Avenue, came forward and shared that he also lives in one of the affected homes. He stated that he and the other affected homeowners are not looking for the City to take responsibility for this, but rather for the City to offer assistance to ensure that the responsible parties are held accountable for their actions. He said he has a list of all of the affected home addresses. He added that he also has a list of people who he has contacted from the responsible parties with an action item list and they have not gotten a response at this time. He asked if he could add the Council to this list so they are involved in the communications being sent. He said he wants the Council to know how this is being handled and how it has been very unprofessional up to this point. He explained that there is dried excrement on their floors still to this point. He noted that their entire finished basement has been fully gutted. He said he and his wife both work from home and their home offices, and their son's bedroom are completely destroyed and gone. He noted that the immediate need is for the space to be cleaned so they can go back down in this area. He stated his biggest complaint is the lack of response they have been getting from the insurance company. Mayor Kuzma emphasized that they will be putting pressure on this situation to get things moving. Jenn Shoemacher, 6150 Rivlyn Avenue, came forward and shared the story of June 8 when the incident took place. She stated that day they were scheduled to host family and friends for their son’s birthday party. She explained that when they discovered the flooding had started, they began trying to unclog their toilets and drains as they thought the drains were causing this flooding. She shared that she had attempted to clean up the water with her shop vacuum before she realized that she was cleaning up fecal-infested waters. She noted that six houses in her neighborhood had sewage and methane gas forced into their houses through the drains. She said that this was just the beginning of their nightmare. She shared that after this she saw one of her neighbors and Pat Igbert from Ames Construction walking down the road and Mr. Igbert informed her that there was a malfunction, and they should hire someone who could start the clean-up and Ames would take care of it. She added that Mr. Igbert also said that the sewer line is over capacity. She noted that the Council approved adding 14 houses to the end of Rivlyn Avenue in the past three years, four of which just went on sewer in the past year. She explained that the following day the mitigation process started and their whole basement was gutted. She said this cut their living space in half to around 1000 square feet for four adults and three dogs. She explained that four days after the flood City Council /June 25, 2024 Page 5 of 10