Dixon Construction, Union Pacific railroad, and the city of Jefferson are all defendants in a lawsuit filed late last month by Roger Nielson, a Jefferson resident and business owner who has argued for the past two years that flooding of his property in May 2013 was due to the design and construction of the Highway 4 overpass.
The lawsuit was filed in Greene County district court May 27 on Nielson’s behalf by attorneys from Whitfield & Eddy PLC of Des Moines.
Nielson owns property at 102 W. McKinley St. His north property line is adjacent to Union Pacific property used as a water drainage area/drainage ditch.
The lawsuit alleges that due to deficiencies in Dixon’s construction and/or Union Pacific’s failure to keep the drainage area free of silt and other debris, Nielson’s property was subjected to excessive water runoff, backup and/or flooding, causing damage.
The lawsuit also alleges that the city of Jefferson had a duty to design or specify, adopt designs and specifications, construct and/or reconstruct, and/or to maintain the Highway 4 overpass, drainage, and storm sewer systems, and that the city breached that duty.
Nielson is seeking compensatory damages, costs, expenses, interest and “any other relief the Court determines appropriate.”
The city’s insurance carrier, EMC, has hired Kirke Quinn of Boone as the city’s legal counsel in the lawsuit.
