Savannah City Council Approves $36,950 Reimbursement to Resident Who Had Tree Fall on His House

Removal of tree had been scheduled before incident, but postponed by city.

Posted: September 19, 2013 – 11:03pm | Updated: September 20, 2013 – 9:01am

By Eric Curl

The Savannah City Council approved on Thursday a $36,950 reimbursement to a resident’s insurance company for damages a tree caused to his home on Washington Avenue last year.

City Attorney Brooks Stillwell said he was recommending the reimbursement because the city had scheduled the removal of the rotted tree, but had not removed it in time.

“It took longer than it should have,” Stillwell said.

The incident was different than the tragedy that occurred in July 2010, when a Savannah woman had been severely injured by a tree limb that fell on the truck she was riding in, Stillwell said. The woman, Shanta Greene, was awarded $12 million in August after bringing a lawsuit against the city for her injuries. The city is appealing the award.

In that case, there was no indication the tree was going to fall, Stillwell said.

“There is no change of policy,” he said. “The city has always paid when they had notice of a tree and did not take care of it.”

Typically, damage claims are not paid by the city.

From 2008 to 2012, between 30 and 52 claims were filed for damage caused by trees, with few being paid out, according to city records. Total payments for those years ranged from $3,190 to $9,663.

Reached by phone after the meeting, the home owner’s brother, Tom Rochefort, said the city had tagged the rotted tree last year in August and it was supposed to be removed by Dec. 7, but it had remained in place until it fell on his house on Dec. 14, causing damage to his roof, porch, bedroom and living room.

Rochefort said that his insurance company, which is getting the reimbursement, covered those expenses, but did not cover “collateral” damage, such as the landscaping costs. He also has to get all new windows to match the one that had been replaced after being damaged, he said, or the property value would be hurt.

He said that he has not heard from the city since submitting a petition for the payment of those expenses in June.