Agenda - Council - 10/08/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

2.02: 2024 Happy Days Recap & Volunteer Acknowledgments Recreation Coordinator Proulx reviewed the 2024 Happy Days recap. She highlighted the overall success of the event as well as the sponsors for the event. She thanked all of the volunteers, partners, and Staff who helped make this event a success. She shared that the next Happy Days event will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2025. The Council thanked Recreation Coordinator Proulx for all of her work on this event. 3. CITIZEN INPUT Roxanne Tersteeg, 6263 Rivlyn Avenue, came forward and gave an update on her house which was affected by the sewage leak on June 8. She shared that they are working with the construction company's insurance carriers on the liability and biological claims. She said they have put in a lot of work to get their house back to being livable and they have gone as far as they are comfortable with covering the costs without being reimbursed and supported by the insurance companies. She shared that they have yet to hear from Ames after they had a meeting to finalize everything two weeks ago. Mayor Kuzma said the City has been trying to put as much pressure on this situation to get a resolution as they can. He stated they are limited on what they can do other than put the pressure on the County to make sure these property owners are taken care of. City Administrator Hagen reiterated that the County holds the construction contract with Ames, so any enforcement has to go through them. He shared that he has been in meetings directly with Ames and the County. He explained that they have been expressing that this was not the homeowner's fault that this happened,and they should not be holding any financial burden because of this. He noted that if there are invoices that are not being paid, these kinds of things need to be sped up and taken care of. He added that all of the affected properties are in varying degrees of being fixed. He said the County is continuing to reach out to Ames to put pressure on this. Ms. Tersteeg explained that when she submitted the invoices for the mechanical equipment that needed to be replaced, such as the furnace, air conditioner, and water heater, this was argued by the insurance company, and they were accused of padding the invoice to get a higher payout. She said they are just trying to restore their home to what it was before this happened. Councilmember Specht thanked Ms. Tersteeg for continuing to come forward with updates on the progress of this project. He added that he had spoken with Representation Niska on this as well and he is available to help in any way possible. Councilmember Musgrove asked if these residents would be able to get any legal help with looking over some of the documents that the insurance companies are asking them to sign. City Administrator Hagen said he can reach out to the County and see if these residents would be able to consult with the County Attorney if they have any questions. City Council/ September 24, 2024 Page 3 of 11