Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Flooding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges council to reimburse mitigation costs for long-running Allen Street flooding
Summary
Frank Chase and other residents told the council that Allen Street flooding continues to cause sanitary backups and property damage; Chase said the claims commission rejected his mitigation claim and Alderman Connors noted a proposed remedial resolution to address the problem.
At the start of the June 11 meeting, resident Frank Chase told the Common Council that the city has assembled roughly $6 million toward the Allen Street project but remains about $8 million short and continues to experience sanitary backups in the Belvadier section of Ward 4.
Chase said he and his wife Sharon have paid mitigation costs to protect their property and that the city’s claims commission rejected their mitigation and rehabilitation claim as outside its narrow interpretation of ‘‘loss injury.’' He urged the council to reimburse residents for mitigation expenses and to prioritize full funding and construction of the Allen Street project. "Our city officials have neglected and ignored the Allen Street problem," Chase said.
Alderman Connors, responding during the post–public-comment portion of the meeting, said the claims commission has a limited statutory role in covering damages but noted that Alderman McNamera plans to sponsor a remedial resolution for preemptive mitigation measures. Connors said the council is "sympathetic to Mr. Chase's claims" but indicated the commission’s authority is constrained.
Council members did not take a final vote on Chase’s claim at the June 11 meeting; Connors’s remarks framed a next step: a pending council resolution to consider remedial measures for affected residents. The council’s procedural record at this meeting shows the issue will be brought forward for formal consideration by the body rather than resolved immediately.
