Bonner Co. pushes back against slide lawsuit
KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 10 months AGO
SANDPOINT — Bonner County is pushing back against a lawsuit filed by a Washington state couple whose home was destroyed in a landslide.
Counsel for Lee and Myloa Stewart contend that water began accumulating on Talache Road near the couple’s home in late winter and early spring of 2017.
Permanent residents advised the county of the issue and the county took steps to alleviate the accumulation, according to the suit.
The Stewarts’ counsel, Coeur d’Alene attorney Art Bistline argues in the suit that the county’s intervention caused water to drain directly on a hillside behind their home, which was exacerbated by stormwater runoff. The home was valued at more than $350,000.
Bistline was poised to obtain a default judgment in the case after receiving no answer to the criminal complaint earlier this month. However, the county’s attorney, Coeur d’Alene attorney Darrin Murphey subsequently filed an answer denying the Stewarts’ allegations, but admitted there was extraordinary precipitation when the home was damaged, according to court documents. Between October 2016 and March 2017, precipitation was 200 percent above normal, the answer said.
While the county admits that it attempted to reduce flooding on Talache Road, the county maintains that the damages were caused by “natural occurrences or an act of God,” according to court documents. The county further argues that the plaintiffs’ damages were proximately caused by their own negligence and had failed to mitigate those damages.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.
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