成人X站

The City of Bellevue and a Bellevue private school have authorized a combined $5 million settlement to the family whose聽.

The Bellevue City Council voted to approve the settlement at Monday night鈥檚 meeting.

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The City of Bellevue will pay $3 million while the school will separately pay the family $2 million.

Dave Bricklin, an attorney for John and Barb Surdi, said Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart had installed the pipelines, which were designed by a previous utility district, which the City of Bellevue now owns.

He said the pipeline was not designed effectively.

鈥淭hey had loosely put one end of one pipe into the next pipe and over time they separated. And that鈥檚 what caused the water to come out, liquify the hillside, landslide, and destroyed their home,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he cutting corners, if you will, was by the engineers who designed this and did not design it with secure joints.鈥�

Following the disaster, the city sued the family to request the聽聽and to clean up debris in the surrounding area to make the neighborhood safe. In the weeks that followed, once the family agreed to the demolition, the city dropped the lawsuit.

Six months after the slide, the Surdis filed their own lawsuit against the city.

Bricklin said the couple had filed an amended lawsuit to include both the City of Bellevue and Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.

鈥淚t was the city鈥檚 pipe and the city was responsible for that pipe for the past 50 years ever since it was put in the ground and our view of the City was the responsible party,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he school probably made things worse by dumping loose fill on that hillside, which added pressure on that pipe, which accelerated the process of the pipe pulling apart.鈥�

However, the city in turn sued Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.

The city鈥檚 lawsuit alleged that the school had added 鈥渘on-structural fill on the hillside above the water main,鈥� increasing pressure on the pipe and compromising the stability of the hillside. The school later filed a claim blaming the city for the damage.

The city and the school also agreed to drop their competing claims against each other as a condition of the settlement.

成人X站 7 spoke with John Surdi, co-owner of the home where his family had lived for more than two decades, about the settlement.

鈥淚 felt better. I wish the City and the school had realized this two years ago that they were responsible for this and they wouldn鈥檛 have made us wait for two years to give us exactly what we asked for in the beginning,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 been easy. Our whole life has been in that home. We raised four kids in that house. Everything we had was in that house and the memories too.鈥�

Surdi said he and his wife had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past two years to resolve the issue.

鈥淲e鈥檝e spent over a half a million dollars for something we didn鈥檛 do. We were minding our own business and the city could have settled this a long time ago, but they are now, hopefully tonight,鈥� he said before the Bellevue City Council鈥檚 meeting.

Surdi said he is not sure if he and his wife will rebuild on their current property or explore other locations.

He said his wife had been sleeping inside the home with their 10-month Golden Retriever when the mudslide 鈥渒nocked the house 20 feet off its foundation鈥� and destroyed their home.

鈥淪he thought it was an earthquake,鈥� he said.

鈥淢y wife can鈥檛. She still can鈥檛 go up the street. She can鈥檛 even go up that street to see where the house used to be. She can鈥檛 handle that. We鈥檙e going to have to figure that out. Should we rebuild? Sell the land? That鈥檚 another decision we鈥檒l have to make moving forward,鈥� he explained.

鈥淲e鈥檙e both in a state of trauma over this whole thing. It鈥檚 a very strange feeling. But we鈥檙e here. And we鈥檙e moving forward,鈥� he said.

Surdi expressed his gratitude for those who have supported his loved ones since the loss of his family鈥檚 home.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really humbling. Really humbling. And they鈥檙e still supporting us,鈥� he said.

成人X站 7 reached out to the City of Bellevue ahead of the council meeting to learn more about its settlement and request an in-person interview. A spokesperson for the city denied our request, but shared the following statement:

We are thankful first and foremost that no one was hurt in the landslide that happened last year and that the parties have been able to reach a resolution of the claims brought by the Surdi family. The settlement will go before the City Council tonight for action. While the city still contends the slide occurred due to factors out of its control, this anticipated resolution reflects a negotiated outcome among the Surdi family, the City, and the Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart to resolve this issue for this Bellevue family without further delay. -City of Bellevue

成人X站 7 also reached out to Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart to learn more about its settlement. A spokesperson for the school did not answer our questions, but shared the following statement:

Forest Ridge has reached an agreement to resolve an ongoing lawsuit involving the City of Bellevue and the Surdi family. We are glad to have reached an agreement in this case so all parties can move forward. -Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.

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