Sewer backups have Donnellson residents stirred up

Backed up basement

My kids are coming home. I should not have to pick between their health and having them home with me. I'm made for this, this is what I do. I am not going away.”

Erin Wagner, Donnellson resident

DONNELLSON – Something smells in Donnellson.
At Monday’s regular Donnellson City Council meeting, things got heated up over sewage that had backed up into about a half dozen homes on Maple Street in the past five weeks.
Erin Wagner, one of the residents, told the council that she has claims totalling more than $90,000 from three different instances of what she claims is the city’s sewer line backing up into her home.
Her neighbor Mary Kurtz was also at the meeting.
Wagner asked the Council what they were prepared to do to rectify the situation.
The Wagner’s home backed up on two occasions in June at a time when Wagner claims there was no rain, and a third time following the heavy storms that hit the area June 29th.
That back up left city sewer water up past the Wagner’s furnace in their basement. Wagner said she had to send her children out of the home for fear of getting an infection from the bacteria that was in the basement and up the basement stairs water was pumped out.
Wagner told the council she hired someone to video her lines and said there are no issues with the lines from her property to the city’s line.
Donnellson Public Works Director Todd Herdrich said the city lines are getting plugged by plastic bags and other debris that’s finding its way into the 8-inch lines.
Alvin Krebill, a part-time public works staffer for the city, said gate valves on the lines that prevent water from backflowing into property owners' homes may not be set up right or functioning properly.
But Wagner and Kurtz both told the council contractors have told them their valves are working properly.
Krebill said then there would be no way for the water to get back into the houses.
The two property owners and Krebill got so heated in their debate at one point, Mayor Dave Ellingboe asked Krebill to leave the meeting.
At that point Herdrich said the city will be videoing the line on Wednesday, but he said he thinks the footage will be the same as it was in February when he last had a camera run through the line.
Ellingboe asked the property owners to be patient until the footage comes back on Wednesday, but Wagner said it’s time for the city to step up and solve the problem.
“The general consensus we get from the city is that this has been going on for the last 30 or 40 years,” Wagner said.
“I don’t care. I’m a taxpayer here and I want it taken care of.”
Kurtz and Wagner both also told the council that they were seriously considering leaving the community.
“I wanna move, but I can’t sell my house until this is fixed,” Kurtz said.
Another resident said water backed up in his house before the heavy rains came, too, but he was able to mitigate it. However, when the June 29th derecho blew in, he pulled his toilet and plugged the drain and all the shower drains to keep water from backing up in his house.
Wagner said she has a pump but it’s a residential pump and it was no match for the heavy waters that were pouring into her basement.
“We’re good people. We volunteer in this community but this isn’t right. This has to be made right,” she said.
Wagner told the council that her insurance company is paying for her children to stay away from the home, but it's been weeks and she wants her kids home.
"My kids are coming home. I should not have to pick between their health and having them home with me," Wagner said.
"I'm made for this, this is what I do. I am not going away."