The Jefferson city council at its June 14 meeting approved a $2,000 settlement to end a lawsuit filed a year ago over water runoff from the Highway 4 overpass.
The settlement was recommended by the city’s insurer, EMC. EMC hired Kirke Quinn of Boone to defend against the suit.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2015 by resident Roger Nielson, who owns property at 102 W. McKinely St. He claimed that flooding of his property in May 2013 was due to the Highway 4 overpass. The overpass opened the previous October.
The lawsuit alleged 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 sought compensatory damages, costs, expenses, interest and “any other relief the Court determines appropriate.”
Also named in the lawsuit were Union Pacific railroad and Dixon Construction, the company that built the overpass. The claims against Dixon were dismissed without prejudice in Greene County district court last month. The claims against UP were dismissed with prejudice last week.
According to Jefferson city attorney Bob Schwarzkopf, with the settlement the suit against the city will be dismissed with prejudice*.
He told the city council that the city was not found to be at fault in the lawsuit, but that the insurance carrier recommended settling to avoid further legal costs.
“This goes against my grain,” city council member Gary Von Ahsen said. The motion to approve the settlement was passed unanimously.
The city council had on its agenda a public hearing on an amendment to the city’s urban renewal plan. The hearing was postponed to the June 28 council meeting because the legal requirements for time for the county and school district to consult on the proposal were not met.
*A case dismissed with prejudice cannot be brought again; the decision is permanent. A case dismissed without prejudice can be brought again.
