A few weeks ago, you printed my letter, “Blockage was city’s fault, not resident’s” [The Reader’s Voice, Feb. 21], that a blockage of tree roots at the street caused my sewer to back up, ruining my water heater and causing black mold.
The city refuses to pay any damages even though it admits to clearing the main line at the street causing blockage due to tree roots. Quoting the letter from Gallagher Bassett Services Inc.:
“The Illinois Governmental Body Tort Immunity Act provides certain immunities from liability to governmental entities like the city of Rock Falls. Under the Tort Immunity Act, willful and wanton negligence is needed to be found against a governmental entity, and not just ordinary negligence, for that entity to be held liable for an accident.
“We have completed our investigation into your sewage backup and found that the city did nothing to cause this damage and merely cleared the main line sewage blockage of tree roots in a reasonable amount of time once they were notified of it.
“After careful consideration of the facts involved in this loss and the circumstances as they occurred, we find no evidence of willful or wanton negligence on behalf of our client which would have caused your sewage backup.
“Our client was 0 percent liable for the incident at hand, and we must respectfully deny liability for this loss.”
Again, if the main line at the street had been properly maintained, neither my sewer nor my neighbors’ sewers in this block of Galt Avenue, Rock Falls, would have backed up, causing damage to our basements.
I still maintain if the city would have properly maintained the main line at the street, my sewer would not have backed up, causing the above damage, and that I and my neighbors should be compensated for our damages.