Haverhill, Owner of Water Main Break-Damaged Home Reach $100,000 Accord

(Additional photographs below.)

The City of Haverhill and the owner of a Groveland Street home, whose foundation was undermined by a water main break last May, last week came to an up to $100,000 agreement on engineering work, repairs and temporary housing, relocation, storage and other living expenses.

Cleanup of debris and installation of temporary shoring supports, augmenting emergency measures the city took immediately after the break, began this week when Haverhill-based Ideal Property Care was retained. The agreement notes owner Wellington J. “Bill” Clark Jr. is “attempting to work with his insurance company, but despite numerous attempts has been unable to get a response and determine coverage.”

In the pact signed Sept. 15, Mayor Melinda E. Barrett specifies “the city will agree, as settlement for all matters related hereto, to pay an amount to repair the home…to allow it to be secure enough that the home can be made habitable, reimburse the owner for costs and expenses related to repairing the damage to the home specifically” up to $100,000.

Barrett also agreed the city would pay the full amount, currently estimated at $10,700, of shoring up the house’s foundation and reimburse Clark up to $5,000 for reasonable living expenses while the house remains uninhabitable.

Clark, 68, was forced from his home at Groveland and Water Streets during the early hours of May 6, when city official alerted him to the emergency. Building Commissioner Thomas Bridgewater ordered the house secured. Clark sought the city’s assistance to help him repair the house he inherited from his parents. Repairs to Clark’s house stalled after both his own homeowner’s insurance and the city’s carrier denied his disaster claim.

As WHAV previously reported the city solicitor determined state law holds communities harmless in situations where city workers were not actively working on the pipe and no evidence it might fail. Officials, however, said the city quickly helped retain engineer Paul A. Bergman and craft language for an insurance company appeal.

Clark, who is a disabled veteran, sought the advice of Haverhill attorney Paul A. Magliocchetti, who negotiated the settlement with the city. Magliocchetti told WHAV that while Clark is grateful for the city’s financial assistance, the estimated cost of the repairs is well beyond the city’s current settlement offer.

In a related matter, Clark is due in Haverhill District Count Tuesday, Oct. 6, to answer charges he filed a false police report after claiming that someone other than him had gained access to the house. Clark readily admitted he used his house key to enter the house after he saw a broken cellar window July 20 at the house even though he knew he and anyone else was barred from the house by the city’s building department because of safety concerns.

Since the disaster, a section of Water Street has been closed to traffic inbound toward downtown because of fears the house could unexpectedly collapse into the street.