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| Post Number: 101
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| Post Number: 102
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Self-Banished 
Group: Members
Posts: 22484
Joined: Feb. 2006
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2016,4:07 am |
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^^ sounds reasonable 
But what I've followed through this whole debacle, the city calling it an act of God is bullsh!t.
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 Remember boys and girls,
Don’t be a Dick …
Or a “Wayne” 
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| Post Number: 103
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was1
Group: Members
Posts: 1880
Joined: Apr. 2015
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2016,10:21 am |
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1) so sorry to hear they denied your claim. Sadly it does not surprise me, as this is typical with all municipalities. The crazy thing is, they were warned a number of times of the concern of this happening, and did nothing.
2) their not correcting the known issue when they did the reconstruction project, and assessing you for the work, is total crap. If I were a lawyer I would represent you for free on this one just to get the city, and their "engineer" to admit they screwed up on this and take responsibility.
3) hope you are filing another complaint with the state engineering board on jahnke for this
4) you should not have to install double check valves, plugs, gate valves, etc. This is a newly reconstructed sanitary sewer system. It should have been designed properly in the first place. The original design, what 80 years ago, worked at that time. Now, due to changes in the storm sewer drainage areas, and other issues with the sanitary sewer, it does not. This is not the fault of the residents, nor their responsibility to correct. How long as your property been there, paying a sewage bill? Seems to me its not getting what it is paying for.
5) I hope there is an appeals process other than outright suing, but I doubt that will get you anywhere anyway.
6) Good luck to you
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| Post Number: 104
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16603
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2016,1:18 pm |
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^^Not to start a quarrel with you was1, But here in Albert lea we have 127 miles of sanitary sewer with about 7000 connections.. Many of these homes have clay tiles from the house to the street. even some of the sewer system itself consists of tiles.
When we see conditions such as 2008 and 2016 when the ground is already saturated from continual rain and we have a downpour like 2008 3" in a matter of hours or an overnight with 4" like 2016 the system becomes flooded mostly because of homeowner connections..
I'm not up on local codes but my guess replacement of the tile connections would be the homeowners responsibility. spendy project..
Looking at alcitizens property he's lower than fountain lake and you'd have to go uphill to get to Albert lea lake from his place. an investment in some kind of device to isolate his property from this type of situation is money well spent..
the problem is not going away any time soon..alcitizens wasn't the only one flooded, the city guys where out all night trying to stem the flooding..good job guys..
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History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors.
~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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| Post Number: 105
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alcitizens
Albert Lea
Group: Members
Posts: 3664
Joined: Jul. 2009
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2016,4:18 pm |
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I was up at 6am on September 22nd watching TV and getting ready for the day.. At 8:30am I went downstairs with a load of laundry only to find everything floating and tipping over.. Talk about pain and suffering..
State Law considers the lack of action for decades by the city of Albert Lea resulted in an unconstitutional taking of property.. I submitted a written objection to the city council at the final assessment hearing allowing me to appeal my assessment in district court.. I will be dropping off my appeal on Monday..
When it comes to the sewer backup, I will be filing a lawsuit also in district court against the city.. A manhole that sits full of sludge because of a severe sag in the main line going to the St John Ave and 6th lift station. On September 22nd there wasn't any sanitary sewage going to the lift station because the outlet at the Virginia Pl manhole with a sag and sludge was completely plugged.. All the I&I and sewage flowed into the homes on S Virginia Pl nonstop until a pump arrived at 11:30am..
The city of Albert Lea hasn't demonstrated any form of reasonable care in this area for 47 years and even to the point that a full reconstruction is nothing more than an incomplete reconstruction.. Its just a sad failure..
Picture shows sewage bubbling out of the floor drain.. Its amazing how a disaster like this can push a person to the edge of giving up on everything..
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| Post Number: 106
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Self-Banished
Group: Members
Posts: 22484
Joined: Feb. 2006
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2016,6:59 pm |
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^^Go get 'em sir, best of luck!
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Remember boys and girls,
Don’t be a Dick …
Or a “Wayne”
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| Post Number: 107
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was1
Group: Members
Posts: 1880
Joined: Apr. 2015
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Posted on: Nov. 21 2016,9:05 am |
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Expat - I am fully aware of the type and condition of infrastructure in Albert Lea and elsewhere. I am willing to bet big that I have far more knowledge of infrastructure and how and were I&I comes from that you do.
I believe AL has fully laid out the whys of how the City is negligent in this instance.
Trust me, the City has many, many sanitary sewer issues with all their old clay lines and brick manholes. And all the manholes that still have open pick holes to directly let storm water into the sanitary system. Shoot, they even still have storm sewer that goes directly into the sanitary sewer. They even have gone as far as to put a gate valve in one of these locations to try and limit the sewage backup, but that doesn't always do it.
The issue here is the city did a project here, were told of the many concerns of the residents, even were given suggestions by the citizens of what to do differently to alleviate the problem they are having and want corrected. Yet, the City, specifically the Engineer, did not listen to them, nor do they care about their needs.
Instead, they did the project they felt was best and charged the residents for it. So on top of the assessment, and not fixing their actual problem, now AL is again flooded and out belongings, and $ on top of his assessment.
City started to try and address their sanitary sewer issues about 15 years ago with their sump pump program. Have they done anything since? Have they done any follow up inspections to ensure that everyone is still in compliance? I know of many who got sick of the sump water discharging out in their yard and redirected it back into the sanitary.
City needs to look at these flooding issues and specifically the sewage backup issues and make their correcting a priority for their infrastructure spending. There are many ways to fix leaking sewer mains as well as services that need to be explored and implemented system wide.
AL - best of luck, I hope the City makes this right sans you having to go though the court process.
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| Post Number: 108
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16603
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Nov. 21 2016,9:27 am |
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I don't disagree with you was1, the city is prioritizing our resources the wrong way...we need to address the sanitary sewer system as a priority!
The Front Street relocation for lakefront property for a new City Hall/Fire-Station/Civic Center, new Airport Terminal and to a lessor degree the project on Commercial Street are all luxury items compared to homeowners being flooded out every-time we have major rain storm.
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History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors.
~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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| Post Number: 109
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Self-Banished
Group: Members
Posts: 22484
Joined: Feb. 2006
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Posted on: Nov. 21 2016,3:13 pm |
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^^Firestation/City hall on lakefront property??
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Remember boys and girls,
Don’t be a Dick …
Or a “Wayne”
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| Post Number: 110
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16603
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Nov. 21 2016,4:21 pm |
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^^^It was part of the city's grandiose scheme for the old Wilson/Farmstead site, they've since downsized the pipe dream because of resistance caused by this site.. IMO... doubt they've totally dropped their original desires...
the link is to their current plan,
http://cityofalbertlea.org/wp-cont...eet.pdf
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History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors.
~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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