The owners of a home damaged by a ruptured city of Bend water main June 10 may sue the city.

Scott Jennrich and Marney Smith live on NE Eighth Street, near where the 12-inch main broke earlier this month. In a tort claim notice sent to the city, the pair’s attorney, Jeff Eager, wrote, “The water caused significant damage to the property, including but not limited to damage to the following: landscaping, crawl space, garage, utility room and possible damage to the foundation and footing of the structure.”

Utility crews were on the scene within 12 minutes of the break and were able to contain it within 38 minutes, according to a city of Bend statement. The city’s insurance provider determined the break, which occurred on a pipe probably installed in the 1960s, was not due to negligence because such pipes do not have a history of problems. As a result, the city was determined to not be at fault.

“Nonetheless, the City is sympathetic to the (homeowners’) situation and, working with (our insurance provider), will pay for the extraction of water, sanitization and drying of the interior of the homes,” the statement reads. “Homeowners will need to cover any other damage to real property, replacement of content items and yard work.”

In the tort claim notice sent Wednesday, Eager writes that landscape repair work has cost $8,000, which the owners want the city to cover. His clients have also requested an inspection that the city would pay for to determine the extent of the damage and compensation for any further work needed.

“The City’s offer to pay for some, but not all, of the damage its broken water pipe caused is both a tacit admission of responsibility and an arbitrary and unjustified shirking of that responsibility,” Eager added in an email. “The same water which must be dried and otherwise removed from the homeowners’ property and necessitates ‘sanitization’ also caused significant damage to homeowners’ real property. There is no justifiable reason why the city would pay for part, but not all, of that damage.”

Eager pointed to a case in 2010, when a 100-year old pipe broke on NW Congress Street, inflicting $61,000 worth of damage on the home of Suzanne Bowers and Nick Thompson, who at the time were in Europe. While Bend’s insurance provider ruled the city was not at fault, the city agreed to pay the entire cost, including a nearly $230 phone bill the pair racked up while trying to ascertain what had happened.

On Friday, City Attorney Mary Winters said, “Sympathetic as the city may be, we’re concerned with setting a precedent of acting when our insurance has determined there is no liability.

“There’s no evidence to suggest the city was negligent in maintaining the pipe or responding to the break,” she said, adding that the city is looking into whether it can acquire additional insurance to cover costs when it is found not to be at fault.

Eager said his office is investigating the extent of the city’s knowledge of problems with the Eighth Street water main, in addition to discrepancies in the city’s response timeline.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com