Dennis homeowner sues town over flooding

Aug. 13--BARNSTABLE -- Since a 2015 project to raise the height of Elm Street in Dennis by 6 inches, the property at the corner of Elm Street and Mashantum Road floods whenever there is heavy rain.

From 2015 to 2017, property owner Ronald Creamer, a Belmont resident, was in contact with the the town engineer to fix the flooding problem caused by the elevated road, according to a lawsuit filed July 25 in Barnstable Superior Court.

The attempted solutions were catch basins and a berm installed along the driveway on the property. Neither solution worked, according to the suit.

Creamer's suit seeks $180,000 for the damages caused by the flooding.

According to the complaint, there are now two large sinkholes in the yard -- one near the vegetable garden and the other near the septic system's leaching field.

Before the road was raised, stormwater flowed down Mashantum Road toward Elm Street, then west down Elm Street until it flowed into a retention pond near Route 6A.

According to a 2018 engineering study commissioned by Creamer, the work to raise the pavement directed water to the intersection of Elm Street and Mashantum Road, according to the suit. Creamer's property became the new low point. The only way to fix the problem would be to reduce the road to its original height.

Town engineer Thomas Andrade never considered drainage issues when developing the plan to raise the pavement levels on the two roads, according to the complaint.

Every time the property floods, the suit states, Creamer's septic system becomes slightly more compromised.

According to a 2018 tort claim letter, attached to the lawsuit, Creamer needs to replace his septic system, irrigation system and driveway as well as raising the level of his land to prevent future flooding.

In a voicemail, Andrade said he was aware of the lawsuit and the case has been referred to the town's insurance company.

Creamer's attorney, Michael Princi, said any resolution to the lawsuit would likely include "some kind of relief" from future flooding.

"My client has historically had a good relationship with the town of Dennis," Princi said. "His relief would be for the town to make the necessary repairs so this doesn't continue."

No court date has been set.

-- Follow Wheeler Cowperthwaite on Twitter: @WheelerReporter

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