By Tim Douglass

tdouglass@pctribune.com

A sewer backup into a private residence in Glenwood was the topic of discussion at Wednesday’s Glenwood City Commission with the homeowner requesting some financial relief from two sewer backups into the home in the past year and half.  

Dan Schliesman, speaking on behalf of his mother, who lives at 15 4th Ave. SW in Glenwood, said his mother experienced a second sewer backup into her basement, which is a finished basement and said he believes the backup was due to failing city sewer infrastructure.  

Although he was asking for about $1,800 to pay for a set of backwater valves that they believe will protect the home from future backups, the city commission, with only Neil Haynes, Todd Gylsen and Mayor Sherri Kazda at the meeting, tabled the request until they could get more information and discuss with a full commission present.  The issue was tabled until the next regular meeting on Tuesday, July 11.

Dan Schliesman said that when his mother’s basement filled up with sewage the first time it was a traumatic experience.  “Imagine your house filled with other people’s sewage,” he said.   Then it happened again.  The first time, he explained, it was due to tree root blockage.  The second time it happened the city attributed to grease caught in roots or a joint.  He emphasized that the sewage that backed up into the house was “not from the house.”  It was the result of a “failed city sewer infrastructure.”  He also stated that much of the town comes through the line that services the Schliesman home.  

City Attorney Troy Nelson told the commission that he had reviewed the request and said approving the request could put the city in a difficult situation in the future.

Dan Schliesman said he could understand the legal precedent and protecting the city, but said if the city wasn’t going to do anything to help with the insurance deductible, which was denied by the city the first time the sewer backed up, it could “at least pay for a device that would keep it from happening again.”

Schliesman said the first time it happened, the family and friends did all the extensive cleanup.  The second time he instructed his mother to hire a third party called ServPro to remediate the basement.  The family is currently in the process of tearing up the linoleum flooring of the basement and grinding down to concrete to eliminate mold and the remaining sewage as well as completing repairs to the walls taken apart by the ServPro team.  He said they would have the backflow prevention devices installed prior to laying new flooring.  

“Put yourself in my mother’s place,” he stated in a letter to the city.  “City flooding her basement with other people’s sewage over and over.  Nobody taking actions to help, no city assistance or changes to the failing infrastructure.”

“What we want from the city is either direct payment for the installation of the backflow prevention device or a reprieve from city services billing until an amount equal to the cost of installing the device is met.”

He also told commissioners that the drawings obtained from the city show that the entire quadrant, including the expanded hospital goes through “an 8-inch pipe that obviously does not handle the volume.” 

“At the very least we want the city to acknowledge that the city has a problem and give our request consideration,” Dan Schliesman said.  

Andy Jorgensen told the commission that the city had done videos of the line and put it on an annual schedule to be cleaned out.  It was on a every other year schedule before the recent backup, he said.  The city’s insurance company has determined that the city was not at fault for the blockage, the Schliesmans were told. 

Carolyn Stevenson, a neighbor, told the commission that the city should pay for the devices, stating that because the city’s insurance didn’t find the city negligent “doesn’t mean the city doesn’t have some responsibility.”  She said she was appalled when the city didn’t provide Schliesmans with $2,000 to cover the insurance expense the first time the sewer backed up into the house.  She equated the backup to a biohazard spill and asked why “(Barb) is supposed to take on the cleanup herself.  “It just isn’t her problem.”  Stevenson also questioned why the city was “playing chicken” with the issue of establishing a legal precedent.  “What ever happened to taking things on a case-by-case basis,” she asked.  

Nelson responded that the city does consider things on a case-by-case basis and said a decision would not be legally binding going forward, but cautioned the commission about its actions when a similar situation arises.

Another neighbor, Tony Feigum, said the first time the sewer backed up to the Schliesman home it flooded his basement as well.  He said the city needs to address why this is happening.  “For 30 years it didn’t happen and now it’s backed up twice in a year and half,” he said.  

He added that regular maintenance of the city’s sewer line is a good response, but suggested that it might be a bigger problem than that.   

“It is good this discussion is happening,” Feigum said.  Taxpayers of the city should have a reasonable expectation of functioning sewer lines.  “If it has to be upgraded, the city may need to do that.”

After more discussion, City Administrator Dave Iverson said the commission could either approve the request, deny it, or table it to provide more time to look at the issue.