SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS INDEX SHEET

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1 SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS INDEX SHEET Creation Date: 7/26/04 Source Code: COUNC Agenda Date: 8/3/04 I NVENUM : Resolution(s): Ordinance(s): Continue Date(s): Index: --Letter of County Counsel dated August 3, Claim of Timothy P. Hughes Item: 12. REJECTED the claim of Timothy P. Hughes, No , and referred to County Counsel

2 0Fn-m I? SA;'FA CRUZ COUNTY COUNSEL 701 OCEAN STREET, SUITE 505, SANTA CRUZ, CA (831) FAX: (831) DANA McRAE, COUNTY COUNSEL Chief Assistant Assistants Rahn Garcia Harry A. Oberhelrnan III Tamyra Rice David Kendig Samuel Torres, Jr. Pamela Fyfe Miriam L. Stombler Marie Costa Julia Hill Jason M. Heath Jane M. Scott Shannon M. Sullivan Special Counsel Dwight L. Herr Deborah Steen GOVERNMENT TORT CLAIM RECOMMENDED ACTION Agenda August 3, 2004 To: Board of Supervisors Re: Claim of Timothy P. Hughes,.No Original document and associated materials are on file at the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors. In regard to the above-referenced claim, this is to recommend that the Board take the following action: x 1. Reject the claim of Timothy P. Hughes, No and refer to County Counsel. -2. Deny the application to file a late claim on behalf of and refer to County Counsel. 3. Grant the application to file a late claim on behalf of and refer to Countv Counsel. '. 4. Approve the claim of in the mount of and reject the balance, if any, and refer to County Counsel. 5. Reject the claim of as insufficiently filed and refer to County Counsel. cc: Tom Bolich, Director, RISK MANAGEMENT Department of Public Works BY DANA McRAE, COUNTY COUNSEL PER5107 Word Rev 2/2004 Document2 12

3 CLAIM AGAINST THE COUNTY OF SANTA (Pursuant to Section 910 et Seq., Govt. Code) TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ AlTN: Clerk of the Board Governmental Center 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA Claimant's Name: Address: Phone No: P.O. Box to which notices are to be sent: SEE &TTATC't-IET> 5. Name(s) of public employee(s) causing injury, damage or loss, if known: Amountclaimednow... $ 2,13\. (32- Estimated amount of future loss, if known...!...$ 0 M H M(3 W d Basis for above computations: 56E ATATc kt ED TOTAL$ * I \31 6 0% 8. If the amount claimed is over $ 10,000, indicate the court of jurisdiction: Municipal Court Superior Court CLAMANT'S SIGNAIZTRE: Note: Claim must be presented to Clerk, Board of Supervisors, within six (6) months after the act which occasioned the injury. Americans with Disabilities Act questions or requests for accommodations may be directed to the ADA Coordinator at (TDD ). 2 / PER5003

4 n Tim and Kim Hughes 811 Seventh Avenue Santa Cruz, CA County failed to connect our sewer lateral to the main replaced on Seventh Avenue Late April to early May, 2004 Here is a short claim history. General description of damage or loss incurred so-far as is known: The following table describes the costs associated with the failure to connect the lateral. A short description of each item follows: 1. Clean Spill in Crawl Space: The lack of a lateral connection created back pressure which resulted in failure of the lateral line under our house and the spilling of sewage into our crawl space. The attached estimate was provided by Serv Pro. It includes sanitation of the contaminated soil and application of lime in affected areas, 2. Drain Snakinq on May 19: Because there was no indication that the County had failed to connect the sewer lateral (we were never contacted by the Public Works department or the contractor), we hired a plumber to snake our line. That is when we determined that this was probatyy not our problem. Recepit attached, 3. New Toilet: As part of investigating the problem, Tim Hughes removed the toilet in the master bath and replaced the wax ring. When he was replacing the toilet, the tank cracked. We are seeking replacement of the complete fixture, because its removal was precipitated by the County's failure to connect the lateral. Receipt attached, 4. Miscellaneous materials: These are costs associated with the repair to the broken sewer lateral under the house and to materials used and damaged as part of the clean up. Receipts attached. 5. Lost Work: To address this issue and solve this problem, Tim Hughes took off work from Monday, May 17, 2004 through Monday, May 24, He worked for 10 hours a day for five days. His hourly wage is $ The total cost is $1,168.

5 1 2 3 Clean Spill in Crawl Space Drain Snaking: May 19 New Toilet $ $ $ I Miscellaneous Materials I $97.02 I I I 5 Lost Work Tota I : $1, $2, Amount claimed: $2, Estimated amount of future loss, if known: Unknown at this time Basis for above computations: Receipts are attached for items 1 through 4. Item 5 is based on Tim Hughes' current salary and the number of hours he worked on the house plumbing. If a professional plumber had done this work, the hourly wage would have been much higher. A short description of events follows: In late April and early May, we noticed a moldy smell in our laundry room. At first, we thought our washer may have been leaking and causing the odor. On further inspection of the washer and surrounding area, we found no leaks. This led me to inspect under the house. While inspecting the crawl space, I found my sewer lines exposed (washed out) and the remaining dirt around the lines thoroughly saturated. I inspected further to find the leak's source and.-found a cracked terra cotta pipe. At this point, I wasn't certain why I had standing sewer water underneath my house. I knew that I had to do some repairs to stop the sewage from running into my crawl space. I replaced the two sections of terra cotta pipe with ABS plastic pipe. I thought that would end my trouble. When I tested for leaks (Le., flushing and running water down the drains), sewer debris backed up and into my tub, shower, and blew the wax seal on my toilet. I then decided to call a plumber to snake my sewer line. The plumber ran the snake around 80 feet from the toilet hole (we pulled the toilet) and ran into something solid. After many attempts to clear the line, I sent the plumber away and decided to phone the county inspector, Steven Niemi, and Mike Price, the MPE foreman, both of whom said that they would meet with me on the morning of Thursday, May 20, Steve and Mike met with me on the morning of May 20 at which time Steve showed me the construction plans. He pointed out that the plans did not show a

6 sewer lateral from my property to the 7'n Avenue main. At this time, Mike Price contacted Roto-rooter. A technician, equipped with a TV camera attached to a rooter snake, tried to locate my lateral. He went as far as he could in my lateral, which ended up being the white stripe of the westbound lane of 7th Avenue. As it was late in the day, they said that they would start excavation the first thing Friday morning, May 21. On May 21, I met with Steve, Don Hill (his boss), Mike Price, Drew Byrne, and an associate of Drew's. Drew was very unpleasant, defensive and arrogant. He barked at me, "Who is going to pay for this?'' He was referring to MPE's excavation of the pavement to locate my lateral. I told him that I had no intention of paying to find my lateral and, that if that was his intention, then they should pull off the job immediately. At this point, Don stepped in and very graciously and politely explained that there was a slim chance my lateral drained into Stagg Lane, the street adjacent to my property. He said that they would flush dye down my toilets and see if it flowed into the Stagg Lane sewer line. If the dye showed up on Stagg Lane, then my sewer lateral was connected there. We flushed the dye and we all watched and waited for the dye to show up. After waiting about minutes and seeing no dye, the group decided to excavate at the 7th Avenue location. The crew excavated and found my sewer lateral with a prod. It was broken about 6 feet into the County right of way. The sewer debris began to gush out and, within a few minutes, the dye began to fill the'excavated hole. The crew then dug as far as they could toward the center line of 7th Avenue and the new sewer main. They were trying to find the end of my lateral. The line continued past the end of their excavation. By this time, they had determined that they had missed my lateral when they installed the new main. By this time, it was 4:OO p.m. I agreed to let the work be postponed until Monday, May 24. This saved the County and the contractor overtime weekend rates. Our family had to stay with friends over the weekend, as we had been doing for the past week. On Monday, May 24, work began to connect us back to the main. Work finished in the later afternoon and our service was restored. I have claimed ail my direct costs, some personal labor and loss of work. I have not claimed any temporary housing costs while our sewer lateral was out of service. Finally, I tried to save the county money by agreeing to wait over the weekend for the repair work to be completed. Based on these facts, I think my claim is more than reasonable. The amount is not over $10,000.

7 .-. Claimant s Signature: Date

8 Description: Materials cost:

9 1,. j i s~ DISASTER WESTBRATION, dba SERVPRO of Santa Cruz 130 Sylvania Ave Santa Cruz, CA & L._ ~.~. I I Sales Receipt..... ~ Sold To PROPERTY ADDRESS Sewices TIM HUGHES C/S CORNER OF 7TH & 811-7TH AVE STAGG LANE / 1ST DRIVE- ~ SANTA CRUZ, CA WAY ON THE LEFT - GOING TOWARDS THE HARBOR CHECK NO. PAYMENT METHOD TECH TIME IN/OUT KEY/CODE TIME I L--- ROB 2:00PM-3:0... SERVICE DATE MOLD INSPECTION FEE: DESCRIPTION AMOUNT _..! $75.00 ~

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