Stoel Rives Secures Significant Settlement for Mahtomedi Homeowners

Trial attorney negotiates settlement that includes repair project for city stormwater management system

Minneapolis, Minn. – Stoel Rives is pleased to announce that trial attorney Andrew J. Pieper has secured a significant settlement for a group of homeowners in a dispute with the City of Mahtomedi concerning allegations of regular and repeated stormwater flooding.

Under the settlement, the city agreed to pay $750,000 to the homeowners and to complete a project that diverts 75 percent of stormwater away from homeowners’ properties. The city is expected to sell municipal bonds to pay for the diversion project, which it’s obligated to complete by 2023. The city also agreed to cover the cost of the homeowners’ flood insurance deductibles while the project is underway.

“I’m very pleased with the results that we achieved for my clients,” said Pieper. “This settlement helps to make the current homeowners whole for their property damages, and will result in a significant repair to help them or others in the area avoid this situation in the future.”

As part of the litigation, the homeowners alleged that road and stormwater infrastructure improvements made between 2012 and 2014 in the Glenmar neighborhood caused substantial and repeated flooding of a drainage channel in the affected area. As the flooding continued without repair, the homeowners filed a lawsuit against the city in November 2016 on claims of negligence, trespass, and nuisance, as well as unlawful takings without just compensation in violation of the Minnesota and U.S. constitutions. The city denied the allegations, and, while the settlement resolved the homeowners’ claims, the settlement is not an admission of liability by the city.

Pieper is a trial attorney in Stoel Rives’ Minneapolis office. He represents multinational corporations, small businesses, and individuals in complex disputes covering a wide range of industries and subject areas. Pieper has litigated cases involving land use, natural resources, and energy; government and municipal liability; contractual and commercial disputes; anti-competitive trade practices; non-compete restrictions and employment agreements; patent infringement; among other matters.

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