MOUNT CARMEL — Duct tape can fix a lot of things, but connecting sewer line pipes is not among its recommended uses.
Mount Carmel residents Bill and Janice Dean claim the sewer line connection at the home of Janice’s father to the Mount Carmel sewer system in 1989 was duct taped and almost immediately began giving her father problems.
The Deans say they discovered the duct-taped connection at 507 Cherokee Drive in November, and now they are seeking about $7,000 in damages from Mount Carmel — which they say is the amount they have paid in sewer bills since the installation, as well as what they paid to fix the line.
That claim, which has already been denied by the Mount Carmel Sewer Board, was denied by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday by a vote of 4-3.
The BMA did agreed, however, to send the Deans’ claim to the town’s insurance provider — the Tennessee Municipal League.
Ordinarily, property owners are responsible for their own sewer hookup. In this case, however, the town of Mount Carmel made a deal with Janice Dean’s father to hook him onto the system at the town’s expense in 1989 in exchange for allowing a sewer trunk line easement through his property.
The line was connected by a contractor, who has since passed away, and inspected by a city employee at the time, who signed the inspection form.
Janice Dean told the BMA during the citizens comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting that her father, who passed away in 2004, began having problems with the line almost immediately. She said her father would open the line and attempt to clear it with a garden hose, which would help for a while, but the problem never went away.
This past November, Bill Dean dug up the line and discovered the duct-taped connection, which had separated. The city’s portion of the line had filled with roots and was blocked solid.
The Deans surmised that when Janice Dean’s father cleared the line with a water hose, it simply washed the raw sewage through the separation into the ground.
Although the house hasn’t been occupied since her father died, Janice Dean said they kept the utilities on and maintain the house, yard and garden. Since the duct tape discovery in November, the line has been repaired by the city, although the Deans claim much of the work and expense was absorbed by them.
“He (Janice Dean’s father) made a trade that they (the town) could put in the trunk line from Cherokee Drive to Hemlock (Street) across his property if they would put in his sewer line, and this is what they gave him,” Bill Dean told the BMA. “The city did not live up to its part of the bargain.”
Sewer Board Chairman Ken Clark said the board conceded that the Deans were owed repairs, but not damages.
Clark said it’s common for the sewer department to respond to problems and make repairs.
“The problem in this case was we didn’t get a notice for 22 years. So we had no opportunity to fix the situation,” Clark said. “Once we were notified in November of 2011, the sewer plant and the staff went up and made the repair.”
Clark added, “Had we been notified and failed to respond, I could see where some damages were due. But never having been given an opportunity to make the repair — we couldn’t fix something we weren’t aware of.”
Town Attorney Joe May, who also advises the Sewer Board, said he doesn’t believe the town is liable, although he did recommend sending the claim to the TML.
“The statute of limitations under the government Tort Liability Act is one year,” May told the Deans. “It was discovered, by your own statements, in 1989, ’90 or ’91. You discovered that there was a problem.”
The Deans argued that the statute of limitations didn’t begin until the source of the problem was discovered in November.
Alderman Thomas Wheeler, who sits on the Sewer Board, made the motion to deny the claim. Wheeler, Alderman Frances Frost, Mayor Gary Lawson and Vice Mayor Carl Wolfe voted in favor of the denial. Aldermen Lean DeBord, Kathy Roberts and Eugene Christian voted against denying the claim.
Although the claim will be filed with the TML, the Deans said they expect to file a lawsuit before November.