River Heights resident still wading through flood troubles with council

By Lindsay Kite

March 10, 2005 | RIVER HEIGHTS -- The City Council and resident Tony Smith battled their way to a short-term compromise Tuesday in an unresolved basement-flooding case.

"I hope the city will be fiscally responsible or deal with an integrity issue and be prepared to meet me in small claims court," he said.

Smith, who has lived in the city for nine years, said he and his wife never had a problem with flooding until the city pumped "millions of gallons of water" into a field behind his home three months ago, and his basement soon flooded. He then filed a claim through the city and hasn't been contacted since then, he said, until he called the city's insurance company who is handling the claim. Smith said the company 's representative told him the city pulled the claim and said they were no longer responsible for it.

Councilman Brent Greenhalgh said the council had not been notified by the insurance company or the city engineer, and the city couldn't have pulled the claim because it was closed to them.

"This city can not discuss this matter because it is in litigation through the insurance company and we can't get involved," he said. "It is out of our hands, really."

Smith said he spoke with Mayor Vic Jensen at the time of the flooding and was told the city would take responsibility for whatever the insurance company didn't cover.

Jensen firmly disagreed, saying, "In my thinking, I said, 'If the city is at fault, then we will be responsible.'"

Council members and Smith had spoken with the same agent from the insurance company, but were given different information, according to their reports. Greenhalgh concluded the argument by volunteering to speak with the insurance company's representative one more time to find out which information is correct, which Smith also agreed upon.

The tension visibly eased as Commissioner Mike Rickson began his remarks to the council regarding the direction and development of River Heights.

"What I have to say is fairly anticlimactic I think," he said while laughing. "If we want to remain viable as a community, we have to look at business opportunities that will work in the area." He suggested the council be willing to sacrifice in the budget and allocate funds to businesses.

"The city, at some point, will not be able to support itself. We'll either become Logan or Providence," he said. "I love this city, but we have to come to a conclusion and build a plan."

When City Recorder Sheila Lind asked where they should start, Councilman Robert Gines said, "These guys have done all the groundwork, now we have an exact outline of which way and where to start."

Rickson said he has seen low-impact industry flow right in with neighborhoods in Northern California and Oregon, and believes the same idea would be perfect for River Heights.

"I don't want to see retail -- I just don't think it fits with this area," he said. "We are being squeezed from both ends and may just be postponing the inevitable, but we can have a say in what goes around us and give it a flavor of what we like."

In other business, the council:

--Discussed the confusion associated with the River Heights Boulevard sign on 1000 East. According to the plat map, the sign is correct, but the council will petition to have the sign changed to include 1000 East in parentheses for clarity.

--Listened to a legal report from Jonathan Jenkins, who said the city "does a good job of staying out of trouble," besides a small number of cases involving parking tickets, speeding tickets and the occasional domestic case.

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