The Sweet Home City Council turned down a request by Dan McCubbins to pay for the repair of a broken sewer connection.
McCubbins asked the city to pay for $4,069.66 he paid for repairs while he had believed he was responsible for the broken pipe. Since then, the city’s insurance company, Pinnacle Risk Management Services denied a claim, and McCubbins has filed a tort claim in the matter.
On July 24, McCubbins said, he was notified by his tenant at 900 Terrace Ln. that there was a sewer problem. The tenant had gone to the city and looked at videotape from the main showing what was believed to be a crushed lateral.
McCubbins reviewed the video and could not see much, he said, but where the lateral should have been was a mess. City officials told him that laterals to most of the houses in the area are old concrete, and they get brittle and break. They also told him that it was his responsibility to repair it.
McCubbins was fine with that and got bids for the work as quickly as possible, he said. After work was underway, he discovered that the lateral was not concrete but PVC.
The PVC had not failed, McCubbins said. What had broken was the “bell” on the sewer main and the lateral dropped down.
The end of a concrete “Y” connection on the main sewer line had broken. The PVC was fitted to that “Y.” The “Y” was part of a single pipe section made of concrete.
“So the truth is everything that they told me about my lateral being old and brittle … was actually true of the main,” McCubbins said. His contractor told him it was not a lateral problem but a problem with the main. With a large hole in the street, McCubbins had the job finished anyway planning to ask the city to pay the bill.
“It is my belief that this break was part of the city’s main not the lateral,” McCubbins said. “If the break was two inches on my side, I wouldn’t be here.”
There are two points to the connection, McCubbins said. “My end of the connection was still good. It was actually the city’s end that broke…. The city’s mains are antiquated and old. They’re breaking. I don’t think it’s my responsibility to pay for it.”
City ordinance places responsibility for laterals from the house to the connection, including the connection fitting, on property owners.
Other cities handle the problem in different ways, City Manager Craig Martin said. Many use the same language while others take care of the lateral from the main to the property line.
“Right or wrong, it’s here in writing,” Councilman Tim McQueary said.
Given the ordinance, “I don’t see any choice but to deny,” Councilman Bob McIntire said.
The council voted 5-0 to deny McCubbins’ request.
Present at the meeting were McIntire, McQueary, Mayor Craig Fentiman, Dick Hill and Robert G. Danielson. Jim Gourley arrived following McCubbins’ presentation. Jim Bean was absent.