Published: July 31, 2008 12:14 pm      

Resident wants house fixed after Jeffersonville city truck accident

A Ninth Street resident wants the city to pay for the damage that one of its wood-chipper trucks caused when it hit the side of her home earlier this month.

City leaders don’t disagree that they’re responsible for fixing the damage, but there are questions about how and how much.

Joyce Whitson appeared before Jeffersonville’s Board of Public Works and Safety on Wednesday morning with photos and a police report detailing the damage. Whitson lives beside an alley with uneven pavement. When the tall truck went down the alley on July 11, it leaned to one side and scraped her house, damaging the roof and siding.

“It’s a question of what her damages are versus what occurred,” said Darrin Wilder, the board’s attorney.

Whitson got estimates from roofers ranging between $3,500 and $3,950. That would replace the entire roof, not just the area that was damaged. The roofers told her that would be necessary because if only one part of it was replaced, it wouldn’t match correctly, she said.

Wilder said the claim would be handed over to the city’s insurance carrier. They urged her to turn it over to her homeowners insurance, as well. Whitson said she didn’t want to do that because she’s afraid of being dropped from coverage.

“Every time a 2-ton truck hits my house, I’m afraid they’re not going to cover me anymore,” she said.

It was the third time in the last 10 years that a city truck has hit the house, she said.

Street and Sanitation Commissioner David Hosea said routes have been changed so that trucks no longer pose a threat to the home.



In other business

• The board gave Providence High School in Clarksville permission to hang a banner above Court Avenue during the last two weeks of October. The banner will advertise the school’s open house, which takes place Nov. 2.

• The board authorized the hiring of three police officers. Two of the new officers were planned as a result of recent annexation. The other one was hired to fill an open position on the force. The three new officers will start in mid-August as patrolmen. Two more officers are expected to be hired before the end of the year, as a result of the annexation.

• The board approved an Aug. 9 youth rally at Park Place United Methodist Church. The event is taking place on private property, at the parking lot of the church, and no police support or road closings were needed. The approval was given for a large tent and the noise that might be associated with the event.

• The board approved the closing of Riverside Drive and Pearl Street from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 15 for the dedication of a nearby historical marker.

• The board approved a motion that will allow insurance agent Culpepper Cooper to meet with Mayor Tom Galligan and one member of the board later this week to purchase a property and casualty insurance policy.

The city’s policy expires Friday and Cooper has been gathering estimates. He expects to have the quotes ready by this evening and wants to get a new policy purchased Friday.

• The board approved the construction of sidewalks on Allison Lane. The sidewalks will be constructed between Eighth Street and Meijer on the southwest side of the street and between Seminole Drive and Beechwood Road on the other side.

The project — which would construct 1,920 feet of sidewalk along with curb and gutter work — will cost approximately $395,000, said Bob Miller, city engineer and board member.

The board only approved the work; it will be up to the City Council to fund the project, he said.

• Jeffersonville Police Chief Tim Deeringer noted that efforts to curb speeding in the Northaven subdivision have been under way and that about 60 percent of the speeders are actually residents there.

Residents have long complained about speeding problems in the area, as motorists often use it and the Buttonwood subdivision as a cut through between Charlestown-Jeffersonville Pike and 10th Street.