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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS-04-95UNFINISHED BUSINESS Subject: REIMBURSEMENT OF INSURANCE DEDUCTIBLE/PAM HODGSON Recommendations: Itis respectfully recommended thatthe General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report No. CS -04 -95 be received; 2. THAT the request of Pam Hodgson to be reimbursed the $200.00 deductible be denied; and 3. THAT both Pam Hodgson and Cowan Insurance be advised of Council's decision. 1.0 BACKGROUND: 1.1 In mid June of 1995 Mrs. Hodgson of 48 Davids Crescent reported by phone that a tree located on Open Space land had split during a wind storm and had fallen over a property line fence belonging to her. She expressed concern for her child's safety and requested the Municipality take appropriate action to remove the tree from her property, restore her fence and remove any dangerous trees in close proximity to her property. Staff were immediately assigned to remove the fallen tree from her property and subsequently removed two additional large black willows which also posed a potential threat. Mrs. Hodgson was advised and did direct her claim for damages to the Treasury Department in accordance with our policy. Her claim was forwarded to Cowan Insurance. 1.2 Cowan Insurance's representative Mr. Frank Nagy in his letter to us dated July 22 ( See ATTACHMENT #1) stated that he advised Mrs. Hodgson to deal with her own insurer Belair Insurance and not with Cowan Insurance directly. In so doing, under the terms of Mrs. Hodgson's insurance she is required to pay a $200 deductible. Mr. Nagy subsequently sent her a letter dated July 19 to deny her claim. ../2 �L 4. PAPER RECYCLE THIS IS PRI-D Q4 RECYCLED PAPER FEBRUARY 6, 1995 - 2, REPORT NO. CS -04 -95 1.3 Mrs. Hodgson on September 7th requested in writing (SEE ATTACHMENT #2) reimbursement of the $200 deductible. Mr. Caruana in a letter dated September 30th (SEE ATTACHMENT #3) advised Mrs. Hodgson that 'bur insurance carrier, Cowan Insurance has previously reviewed and disallowed your claim." 1.4 Mrs. Hodgson appeared before Council on December 12 as a delegation. Council in its Resolution #GPA- 717 -94 directed the matter be "referred to the Director of Community Services and the Treasurer to address the issue of the safety of the trees on the adjacent property and consideration of reimbursement of Mrs. Hodgson's $200 insurance deductible ". 1.5 Following Council's issuing of Resolution #GPA- 717 -94, staff expanded its inspection of the Open Space lands at the rear of Davids Crescent. It was determined that an additional four black willows and three cedar trees presented a potential danger and have since been removed. 2.0 TREE SAFETY: 2.1 The open space lands to the rear of Mrs Hodgson's property also abuts the south side of Taunton Road. This land contains a tributary of Wilmot Creek and is low wet and subject to periodic flooding. The trees along this portion of the watercourse consist mostly of cedar and black willow which are species inherently prone to storm damage. 2.2 Most of the Municipality's wooded valley lands contain trees which are subject and prone to storm damage. These valley lands in most instances are remote from residential lands and not frequented by people. The splitting or falling of a tree under these circumstances is not considered a high risk to the public. With the expansion of the urban areas and development adjacent to open space lands the exposure to potentially dangerous trees is becoming progressively more serious. 2.3 The risk from unmaintained trees is a major problem and comes from all Municipal land be it road allowance, park or open space. The Community Services Department is currently reviewing this issue and will be addressing the feasibility of providing a forestry program at some point in the future. 3.0 EXISTING PROCEDURE: 3.1 The Community Service Department's resources are adequate to provide emergency removals only. Trees on parkland are removed when they become an obvious endangerment to park users or facilities. Other times, upon the public's expression of ../3 FEBRUARY , 1995 - 3, REPORT NO. C5 -0 -95 concern for the safety of specific trees staff inspect the trees in question and if dangerous are removed. 4.0 GENERAL COMMENTS: 4.1 We are appreciative of the fact that no one was injured as a result of the tree accident. While we sympathize with Mrs. Hodgson's request to recover her out of pocket expenditure of $200.00 we can not support her request. To approve her request would set a precedent which could lead to additional claims in any number of instances. Our insurance carrier has reviewed the circumstance and denied the claim and it is important that Cowan Insurance's decision be upheld by the Municipality. The trees in proximity to the homes on St. Davids Cres. have been inspected and potentially dangerous trees removed. The remaining trees are in a healthy condition and present no immediate threat to the residents. submitted, P. Caruana, Director unity Services Department ri Marano, Treasurer JPC:JDC:MM:sa Reviewed by, w W. H. Stockwell, Chief Administrative Officer INSURANCE ADJUSTING LT-D 1 J1��` ATTACFT NO. 1 TO REPORT NO. CS -04 -95 1050 SIMCOE STREET N. OSHAWA, ONTARIO L1G 4W5 BUSINESS (905) 725 -4731 t TORONTO LINE (905) 686 -2737 FAX (905) 725 -1821 Cl - • Corporation of the �U��G�`�,�t�a Our File No. 064/3731 Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street July 22nd, 1994 BOWMANVILLE, Ontario L 1 C 3A6 ATTENTION: Nancy Taylor, B.B.A., C.A. Deputy Treasurer- .. . Dear Madam Re: Yourselves vs. Henderson, Donna and Pam Hod4son We wish to report to you with respect to two occurrences which took place having to do with fallen tress from a windstorm in the Municipality of Clarington area. The initial loss was received from the claimant, Donna Henderson of 36 Duke Street who advised that a tree had fallen at Soper Creek Park and damaged their GMC van. When this loss occurred, the Town was notified and they dispatched the Town employees immediately to see what assistance could be rendered to the third party. The tree was subsequently removed and the third party vehicle was able to drive away. We received copies of the Town material with respect to the notice of this incident and undertook further discussions with Mr. VanSeggelen and Andrew Gryg to complete our investigation. We also attended the site and took photos of the area and tree in question. The information provided in this investigation suggested that high winds on the evening in question took down a large tree branch causing it to fall on the claimant vehicle and fortunately no one was in the area and no injuries were sustained. In our discussions, it was indicated that this area is checked on a regular basis and trees from time to time are removed if.they are found to be in poor condition. continued ...... 2 1 2 1 %' -2- The rotting which subsequently weakened this tree was from the inside and was not detectable from the outside with no visible signs to either the tree itself or the canopy. The high wind then took the weakened tree down and caused the damage to the claimant vehicle. Since the incident has taken place, other trees in the Soper Creek area have been identified for potential removal and we have a series of photographs in file showing the proposed trees which will come down. We subsequently spoke with the third party con- cerning the damage to his vehicle and confirmed that he did have insurance coverage on his own vehicle with the General Accident and the vehicle was taken to Cowan Pontiac in Bowman - ville for repairs. We sent a letter of denial to `vent to third urparty ice under date of July 19th, 1994 which a copy your and to this point, there has been no response. The second incident involves a fallen tree taking place at the home of Pam Hodgson of 48 David's Crescent in Orono and this is a subdivision north of the village and the Municipality has a large wood lot to the north of the sub- division which backs onto the back property line of the houses in a row that face to the south with their fence line to the north adjacent to the Clarington wood lot. In this instance during the same time frame, a large tree came down damaging the fence of the claimants and fortunately, not causing any injury to residents of the home. They, too, had a similar situation where a twenty four to thirty inch calibre branch of this tree came down as a result of insect infestation and this could not be determin- ed from looking at the tree outside. This canopy along the fence line appeared to be proper as well and there was no way of the Town knowing that .a problem was in existence. Our discussions with the claimant indicated that they have been in the house for twelve years and confirm that it was a black willow tree that fell on the night of June 22nd, 1994 at approximately 9:00 P.M. continued ........ 3 -3- They apparently called the Town occasions and followed this up with a letter letter was delayed in reaching Treasury and learned of the incident, we immediately met on the 11th of July 1994. on a couple of however, the as soon as we with the claimant They are insured with Belair Insurance and they called their insurance company who advised them to deal with the Town however, we have since indicated that she should be dealing through her own insurers and not with the Town's policy directly. Our discussions with Andy Gryg on this matter as well indicated that the problem was one of insect infestation and no prior knowledge of the incident was known to the Town. The Town does have a problem with some of these trees over hanging the property lines and at some point, this may have to be addressed. It is our understanding that as the Town learns of these instances, they put them on work lists and they will ultimately be attended to. At the time of our attendance, we also took photographs of the damaged fence area. This was subsequently followed up with a letter of denial to the third party under date of July 19th, 1994 with a copy going to your office. There has been no further contact from either of claimants or their insurers with respect to this file. We suggest that the file be kept open for a sixty day time frame at which time, if there are no other developments, we will bring the file to a close and provide you with our final report. Yours very truly, L. V. WALKER AND ASSOCIATES INSURANCE ADJUSTING LIMITED FAN /bh - r Mr. Frank A. Nagy �_ , ' � EP 0 8 1994 AMICIPAUTY OF __, E �/�o0��8D8� Joe Caruana Director, Community Services Town of Clarington 40 Temperance St., ' Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3A6 Dear Mr. Caruana: / / �� ��-�`������ ` ATTACHMENT 0O. 2 TO IEFCOT0U. C8-04-95 48 David's Cres., Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 September 7, 1994 I am writing in regards to a situation thay happened mid � June of this year. Our property backs onto a greenbelt owned by the Municipality of Clarington. During a windy evening, a black willow tree in the greenbelt fell down on our property damaging our back wooden fence and our side wire fence. At that time, I wrote a letter to Patti Barrie requesting the Town to investigate. Mr. Frank Nagy from L.V. Walker and Associates (the Town's insurance company) came and looked at the situation. They decided not to cover the claim as they didn't seem to think that there was any negligehce on the part of the Town. I beg to differ!. The trees in this particular area are in an atrocious ' state! A lot of them have fallen over or are leaning over at a dangerous angle. My husband had a verbal conversation with Marie Hubbard a few years ago (when she was mayor) but the conversa 'on, unfortunately, never got recorded or documented. The conversation was about. the trees in this particular greenbelt. Nothing was done about the situation and now there has been a lot of damage done. Out insurance company repaired the damage to the total of $1600.00! We had to pay our deductible of $200.00. We would at least like to be reimbursed for our $200.00! What bothers us most about this situation, is the fact that our son was in our backyard in the exact spot where the tree came down only ten minutes before the crash. He could have been killed! We would like to put a swing set in our backyard but are now hesitating because those trees creak every time the wind blows. Do we tell our children not to play there when the wind blows? This does not seem fait~to me.. I would like, to_�s. e_the,�n� Town maintain their property and do some cleaning up in this area, which is similar to the area in Soper Creek. There is a creek back there that runs in through the greenbelt and a lot of children from our subdivision play in there. Some teenagers have built a fort back there and people like to walk their dogs back there. Is it going to take another accident - maybe a fatal one - for somebody to take action and get that area cleaned up? Thank-you for your consideration in this matter. I will be awaiting your reply. Yodis truly Mrs. Pam Hodgson 1l,)1 -, ` <\/l . �� `- —n MUNICIPALITY OF !ar'ington _ ONTARIO September 30, 1994 Mrs. Pam Hodgson 48 David Cres. Orono, Ontario LOB 1MO Dear Mrs. Hodgson: ATTACMENT NO. 3 TO REPORT NO. CS -04 -95 In response to your letter dated September 7, 1994, we wish to advise that we have inspected the trees you have identified which may be potentially dangerous. As Mr. Cameron stated in his telephone conversation with you, three or four over mature black willows in close proximity to private lands will be removed as soon as arrangements can be made. In regards to your request to be reimbursed for your $200 deductible cost under your insurance policy, I regret to advise that our insurance carrier, Cowan Insurance has previously reviewed and disallowed your claim. I trust the removal of the trees will be as swift as possible and will be to your satisfaction. If you have any questions or require clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me. s truly, eph P. Caruana, Director munity Services Department JPC:dm cc: Mayor Hamre Councillor Dreslinski Councillor David Scott James D. Cameron, Parks & Cemetery Superintendent Nick VanSeggelen, Parks and Cemetery Manager C1177 CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET • BOWMANVILLE -ONTARIO • L1C 3A6 • (905) 623 -3379 • FAX 623 -4169 RECYCLED PAPER