St. Louis Park will offer more compensation to residents affected by water main breaks
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The city of St. Louis Park will offer additional compensation to residents affected by a pair of recent water main breaks.
The city council on Monday night approved a reimbursement fund for affected residents.
The first water main break happened on May 21, along Minnetonka Boulevard near Texas and Sumter avenues. A water main break sent water into the sanitary sewer system, forcing sewage into the basements of several dozen homes.
Just as some of those homeowners were completing repairs, another break in the same 20-foot section of pipe on June 3 sent water into nearby basements again.
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The city had previously announced that its insurer, the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, would provide payments of up to $40,000 per building after the first water main break. City officials say it's not yet clear how insurance will handle the second incident.
On Monday night, the city council approved providing an additional up to $60,000 to property owners affected by the first water main break, and up to $80,000 to those affected by both water main breaks — in addition to money provided by the city's insurer.
Private homeowners' insurance typically does not cover water and sewage backups.
Speaking with MPR News ahead of Monday's city meeting, resident Dimi Lalos talked about what he experienced after the first water main break.
"We had ultimately about 16 inches of sewage in our basement," Lalos said. "[It] destroyed all of our mechanicals in that first go-around: furnace, water heater, sump pump, washer and dryer were all replaced — so just those we were already $23,000 out of pocket."
Lalos said contractors had just finished the repairs when the second water main break flooded his basement again.
The city says the cause of the two breaks is not yet known, but an independent consultant will evaluate what happened. It's invited residents to take part in the process.
The entire 20-foot section of pipe where the breaks occurred has now been replaced, with an independent consultant on-site "to verify the quality of the repair."
Another community meeting about the water main breaks and the city's and insurer's response is set for Wednesday, June 8, at 6 p.m. at the Lenox Community Center.
