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A Youngstown resident wants the city to pay for all the damage caused by flooding in his basement
YOUNGSTOWN
The damage to Edward Kalosky II’s North Whitney Avenue house from sewage backing up into his basement five times in recent weeks goes well beyond the hot-water heater and furnace replaced by the city.
Kalosky said the backup resulted in a company, hired and paid by the city, throwing out his washer and dryer, a refrigerator, stove and two televisions during a cleanup of his basement, which he had converted into a den. The cost to replace the items is about $5,000, he said.
“The city said they’d replace everything,” Kalosky said. “The mayor promised everything would be taken care of as it was [the city’s] fault. I didn’t do this. I’m on a limited income and disabled. I was in the hospital after slipping on sewage on my steps. I can’t just go out and buy a new TV and dryer.”
Speaking on behalf of the city, Nicole Billec, assistant law director, said Mayor John A. McNally made a decision to pay for emergency costs to replace furnaces and hot-water heaters and to clean up basements impacted by flooding, including Kalosky’s, when a sewer- line collapsed on the West Side in late October.
“At that point, the law department didn’t know the facts and then researched it,” she said.
“We’ve since resolved that the city was not liable as there was no evidence of negligence,” Billec added. “The mayor made an executive decision to take care of the emergency measures. For the health and safety of residents, it was necessary.”
But the city won’t pay for other damage caused by the sewer collapse, she said.
Kalosky said he plans to hire an attorney and sue the city as it’s the city’s obligation to resolve this.
The cost of repairing the collapsed line and a sinkhole on Mahoning Avenue is about $260,000 with the state paying 80 percent of the expense up to $213,000.
The city also paid about $70,000 for replacement furnaces and hot-water heaters, and to clean basements at about 14 houses that had sewage backup. All but two of the houses were on Whitney Avenue, with the other two on Mahoning Avenue.
The city closed the Frank Sinkwich Bridge on Mahoning Avenue between Glenwood and McKinley avenues — one of the main roads on the West Side — between Oct. 28 and Nov. 12 to make repairs. The flooding first occurred Oct. 28 after a heavy rain caused a sinkhole.