HomeMy WebLinkAboutL_Modification Justification and Narrative_V1_201028The Cost of Undergrounding Utilities for a Single-Family Home lost to Fire
My name is Vicki Cale, daughter of Vicki Roppe.
My Mother and her 5 neighbors have lived in this tightly knit neighborhood for years. My Mother has lived in her home for 47 plus years and other neighbors even longer.
My Mom had a house fire on 02-11-2017 in which she lost everything. Three months prior to the fire, my mom’s dogs rushed out to greet her and she fell backwards down the stairs directly
onto the cement below where she sustained a severe head injury. The signs of the head injury didn’t appear until 4 months after the fall in which she started having severe issues with
her memory, balance, writing, etc. It took almost a year for my Mom to heal and get back to a point where she could function again.
No one in my family has ever had to deal with a house fire before. We had no idea what a horrific task this would be.
While my mom’s house was still in flames, different people appeared telling her not to worry that they’d handle everything, boarding up the house, windows, doors, etc. My Mother was
still in a state of shock & thought they were from the fire department. My Mother unknowingly signed paperwork for them to board up her home. It turned out to be a Construction Company
called Statewide. The contract was for building a new home. My Mom also gave this company a down payment as they requested. After my own investigation, I found this company to be
fraudulent and had to hire a lawyer for my Mom ($11,000) so we could try and get her money back. We did eventually get the money back but, then we had to wait to start the re-build
process in case a lien was placed on the property (6-8 months).
Her Insurance Company (The Hartford) sent out a person to conduct an inventory list of the contents of in my Mother’s home. My mom had a one-level home approximately 2,800 square feet.
The gentleman who came out was at my Mom’s home for less than 4 hours doing his so-called inventory. When we saw his list of items, we knew there was an issue. He had listed none
of the televisions, couches, the upstairs attic contents, and so much more was not documented. 50% of the contents were burnt beyond recognition. After notifying the insurance company,
this individual was taken off the job. My sister and I had to go in with my Mom and conduct the inventory room by room. This took us approximately one month working on it Saturday/Sunday
(10-12 hours) & evenings as both my sister and I work full time.
We have had to fight for everything and go step-by-step as this is not our field of expertise. We have followed the instructions of the City and professionals to complete everything
that has had to be done. The next step was hiring a builder who obviously didn’t know the City of Renton Codes which became obvious. So thankfully, I called the City of Renton and
spoke with several personnel who walked me through what had to be done. We then had to get an Asbestos test & had to hire a special company for Asbestos removal ($25,000), Then we
had to hire a person to Demolish the home ($30,000). The job he did was less than desirable. He left the lot so uneven, with large pieces of cement, large rocks and a large hole in
the middle of the property. You couldn’t even walk through it without twisting your ankle. He left it so we were unable to mow and maintain her lot. We made numerous calls to him
but he wouldn’t respond.
We had to move on to the next thing on the list which was the “Roadway Drainage Permit”. This incurred more costs to have someone come out and drill holes and perform drainage tests.
The plans submitted by the builder turned out to have too much impervious surface area which caused my mom to have to remove the cover over the deck and eliminate the attached garage.
She was told she had to do this to avoid having to put in a bio-retention pond in her landscape that she spent 30 years creating.
She Notified the Insurance Company regarding having to put in new sidewalks, tree’s/plants, and moving the utility pole due to it being in the middle of the new sidewalk. The insurance
company had to speak with the director and finally got the approval for these items. The insurance company stated that they can partially pay for the under grounding of the power from
the pole in front of my Mom’s home back to her house when it gets built. There is no money for any further code upgrades to place the “Underground Utilities” from the pole in front
of my Mom’s home all the way to the North and South poles. The entirety of undergrounding the power to the north, south and to my Mom’s new home was estimated to be anywhere from $56,000
to $96,000. There is no way my Mom can come up with that kind of money out of pocket after all the other costs to date.
My Mother will be 74 this year and just wants her single family home back to live out the rest of her years. Next February 11, 2021 will be 4 years since the fire.
The new home plan is similar in design, shape and size.
If you would please consider the modification of RMC 4-6-060/4-6-090 regarding the under grounding of the power to the north and south poles as my Mom will not be able to pay for this
out of pocket and will not be able to rebuild her home.
Thank you very much for listening
Sincerely,
Vick Cale (Daughter) on behalf of
Vicki M. Roppe (home owner)