Flooding issue causes loss at storage building, council told

Staff report

GIRARD

Gene Byers of Illinois Avenue in McDonald asked city administrators to resolve a flooding issue that caused him to lose belongings at a building he rented at 201 State St.

The building served as a storage space and had no heat. Byers told council Monday his rental manager warned him he needed to heat the building before the weather turned cold or the pipes could break. He discussed the dilemma with city Service Director Jerry Lambert, who advised him he could shut off his water to avoid the pipes breaking.

Lambert said at the meeting he recommended trying that to save money, so he wouldn’t have to heat his storage space.

Water department workers later discovered the water shut-off valve had been encased in concrete, but by that time there already had been pipe bursts. Byers said when he came to the building in January 2018, his belongings, including some antiques, were ruined.

Lambert acknowledged the situation was his fault, but said at this point it’s in the city’s insurance company’s hands. He said the next step is for Byers to send a list of items to be appraised to the insurance company.