THURMONT,
Md. – The Town of Thurmont has condemned three of nine
houses involved in two multi-million-dollar lawsuits against
the town.
“These
are two of the properties that were subject to sewage backups
in 2003 that resulted in significant monetary judgments
against the town,” Thurmont Mayor Martin Burns said
as he read from a prepared statement during the Dec. 11
town meeting.
The
condemned properties are 310 Westview Drive owned by Harold
and Paula Furr and 12 Ironmaster Court owned by Wayne and
Tina Brown. The commissioners also condemned 11 Ironmaster
Court owned by Ron and Kathy Bishop on Dec. 18.
“The
town is pursuing acquisition of these properties to protect
both the residents who reside at the properties from future
damages and the residents of the town from future judgments,”
Burns said.
“I
guess that’s a Merry Christmas to me and my family,”
Ron Bishop sarcastically told the commissioners during the
Dec. 18 town meeting.
Maryland
law authorizes a municipality to condemn private property
for public use and also to condemn private property for
water and sewer systems.
“It
wouldn’t upset me in the least based on the way we’ve
been treated,” Wayne Brown of 12 Ironmaster Court
said the following the announcement. He added, “I
really don’t know what their point would be at this
stage of the game.”
The
condemnation resolutions state, in part, “…the
Town of Thurmont has used due diligence and reasonable care
in maintaining and repairing its sewer system, but despite
these efforts, cannot guarantee that future sewage backups
will not occur at the Property and that the Town will now
incur monetary damages as a result thereof…”
Seven
Thurmont families sued the town for $9 million in 2004 for
damages from a 2003 sewage backup. The case went to court
in May and the families won a judgment against the town
that stands at $2.5 million to date. In September, three
families, including one of the families from the first lawsuit,
sued the town for $6 million from a 2004 sewage backup.
“Nobody
is asking for anything more than we lost,” Brown said.
“The number that came out in court was almost identical
to what was submitted.”
However,
Burns points out that one of the families now suing the
town for $2 million originally asked for only $10,000.
Brown
said none of the families are trying to get rich off the
incident and that they were only seeking a fair settlement
that town never offered before the lawsuit was filed.
“It’s
the second lawsuit that tells me this will never stop,”
Burns said later. He added that having to pay for lawsuit
after lawsuit while at the same time trying to pay for multi-million-dollar
sewer repairs “scares the tar out of me and I think
it would any mayor.”
Though
the town has only condemned two of the properties to date,
Burns said during the meeting that the town would ultimately
be pursuing condemnation of the other properties.
The
resolutions passed unanimously. Now the properties will
be reappraised by the same person who appraised them for
the court case in May.
The
town is required to offer the owners a fair market value
for the properties. If the owners don’t agree with
the amount, they can take the case to court. A judge can
only determine the value of the property, though, not whether
or not it can be condemned.
“Is
that fair market value before the town’s crap was
in their homes or after the town’s crap was in their
homes?” Sharon Little, an Ironmaster Court resident,
asked during the Dec. 18 meeting.
Burns
told her that the backups have made little difference in
the property values. A check of the assessment records and
the appraisal values of the homes in the first lawsuit show
that this is indeed the case.
The
town will take ownership of the property, and once any needed
repairs are made to them and to the sewer system, resell
the houses. “Thus getting some of the money back after
the market has regained,” Burns said during the meeting.
Brown
installed ball valves in his house that he has to manually
turn off when it rains, but it keeps the sewage from flooding
the house. Even after four years since the original flood,
he said that if the town gets two inches, he can turn on
the valve and sewage will still come up through his basement
sink.
When
asked what he would do when he has to move, Brown said,
“I might stay in the area, but I won’t stay
in the town limits.”
Depending
on how smoothly the proceedings go, it could be anywhere
from a month to a year before he will have to move.
“Unfortunately,
right now we have to do what’s in the best interest
of 6,000 people and that’s what we’re doing,”
Burns said.
