Searching for Solutions: Residents look for answers after construction accident damages homes

Nov. 22--BEMIDJI -- Janet Dreyer has a binder of notes documenting the recent damage to the house she has called home for six decades. The binder has photos, legal letters, cost listings -- everything. At a glance, it's thick enough to rival a phone book. That binder has been six months in the making.

Dreyer was one of more than a dozen residents in the Nymore neighborhood of Bemidji impacted by a construction accident May 16. In Dreyer's case, as with many others, sewer water rushed in and flooded the basement, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

It took five days before workers could dry out her basement enough to even remove the carpet. It took two months before they finished cleaning. But it's still not the way it was before. Lower sections of the paneling are cut out. The carpet is gone. The cement needs to be sealed. She's basically at a standstill as far as what she can do without additional funding.

While she might be one of the more severe cases, her story isn't unique to the residents living near the intersection of Second Street and Pershing Avenue. Half a year after the accident, Dreyer and some of her neighbors are still wondering who will take responsibility for the damage.

What Happened

That damage occurred when a crew from Reierson Construction was working at the intersection of Second Street and Pershing Avenue. The project included replacing old sanitary sewer and water main infrastructure underneath the roadway.

They dug a hole in the street to access the infrastructure. While the construction crew was excavating the area around the pipes, a section of the piping broke. Water rapidly started filling the hole in the street where the construction crew was working. Pam Gamble, one of the residents from the area, was on the phone with her grandson at the time.

"I told my grandson, 'Oh my god, we've got Old Faithful going on Second and Pershing,'" Gamble remembers saying, referring to the geyser from Yellowstone National Park.

The damaged water main visible to the random passerby was only the beginning of the problem. Essentially, the water from the broken piping started flooding into the sanitary sewer line. That caused it to back up in people's homes. It came up through bathtub drains. It came up through toilet bowls.

Dreyer took a picture of her basement, showing everything standing in brown fluid.

Another local resident, Crystal Hegg, just returned home when the sewer water started flooding the lower level of her house.

"This giant brown geyser was rushing and gushing out of the downstairs bathroom," Hegg said. "It was a horrible sight to see."

Cleanup & Costs

The bedrooms of Hegg's two children were in the lower level of their split-level home where the sewer water flooded into. The family lived in a camper outside their home for the first three weeks after the flooding. Their insurance had a $12,000 policy for sewer-related claims, but that was not nearly enough to cover the damage.

Dealing with the result of their flooded basement came to define much of the family's summer. It wasn't how her son planned to spend his senior year of high school. Nor was it how Crystal and her husband Kevin planned to spend their 20th wedding anniversary this past August. Her son slept on an air mattress for 100 days.

The costs have reached into the tens of thousands of dollars. Dreyer received an estimate saying it would cost $50,000 to $75,000 to restore her basement. Workers already have poured thousands of dollars into the cleaning process alone. Hegg had a spreadsheet to keep track of the possessions they'd lost; it totaled upward of $20,000. The estimate for the repair was about $38,000.

But they also lost possessions on which they can't place a dollar amount. Dreyer lost yearbooks. Gamble lost a 100-year-old quilt from her great-grandmother. Hegg also lost antique quilts.

"You can't replace these things and money can't either," Gamble said.

For Dreyer, the damage has gone beyond the soiled carpet and lost memorabilia. She doesn't like to feel sorry for herself, but she doesn't deny the fact that the whole ordeal has created so much stress that it's affected her health.

Response

While it was a municipal project that resulted in the flooded basements, the city of Bemidji denied responsibility. Mark Nygaard is a claims adjuster for the League of Minnesota Cities. He said since the contractor is the entity whose actions resulted in the damage, the city of Bemidji isn't responsible.

Alan Felix, the attorney for the city of Bemidji, reiterated that. Felix said it was part of the city's contract with Reierson that the company would be responsible for the "method and means" of the work. He said the agreement also specified that the construction company should provide insurance for its work.

The contractor, however, does not share the belief that it was at fault. The legal representation for the contractor sent a letter to Dreyer and Gamble. It said that after completing an initial investigation, they determined Reierson Construction "does not have any legal liability."

It is not clear how they reached that conclusion. Nicholas Klehr, the attorney who wrote the letter, said he could not comment on the situation when reached by the Pioneer.

Hegg said her family didn't receive a copy of that letter. In fact, she initially couldn't get in touch with the company at all. Her insurance representative finally got a number for Hegg to call, but it was an attorney.

"No one is communicating with us. And if they are, they're not telling us the same story," Hegg said. "The only thing we know for sure is we didn't cause any of it; we're not at fault just because our house happened to be there... someone has to be responsible."

Moving Forward

Even though both the city and the contractor deny responsibility, the neighbors want someone to stand up.

Michelle Gamble, daughter of Pam Gamble, wrote a letter to the editor in the Pioneer on Nov. 9, calling out the city for neglecting the residents who were impacted by the city's road project.

Some of the residents are looking into potential litigation. That isn't the easiest process either. Gamble said she hasn't been able to find an attorney in Bemidji who will take her case. She spoke with an attorney from International Falls, but he essentially said her case wasn't substantial enough for him to represent her.

Although the city maintains it isn't responsible, Felix said they do not consider the situation closed. The city has received notices of claim from at least a handful of the impacted residents. Even though the city denies responsibility, those claims could be the first step in potential litigation.

"This matter's still pending from our perspective at the city," Felix said. "We're working on it; this is not something that we've moved on from."

Regardless of who's ultimately responsible, the damage has essentially stripped Dreyer of the confidence she had in her home of 60 years. She's come to the point where the only solution may be to pack up and leave.

"I just want it fixed up because I'm going to sell it then and move because I'm scared to death of it happening again," Dreyer said.

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