Property owners sue city over Bonelli sewer line

Published 12:00 am Friday, August 10, 2001

[08/09/01] Lawsuits totaling $5 million have been filed against the Mayor and Aldermen of Vicksburg claiming negligence in the way the city maintained the sewer system along Bonelli and Martha streets.

Residents in the neighborhood off Harrison Street have said for nearly two years that stinking fumes from sewage are sometimes so strong they can’t go into their yards. The city has repeatedly made repairs and has agreed to reroute the existing lines.

The plaintiffs are Leotis Stanford, 1714 Martha St.; George and Corrine Carr, 1220 Bonelli St.; James and Katie Harris, 1214 Bonelli St.; and Charles Ivey, who owns property at 1717 Martha St. Each of the four complainants is asking for $250,000 in actual damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

The four lawsuits, filed July 18 in Warren County Circuit Court, say the city failed to maintain sewer lines in and around their property, resulting in damage to their homes.

Some of the alleged damage due to breaks in the sewer line include Katie Harris’s driveway caving in and the back section of Leotis Stanford’s house sinking when water and debris seeped through a corroded pipe and ate away at the ground.

In June, Walker & Wells Inc. was awarded a $165,000 contract by the previous city administration to reroute the new city lines along Bonelli Street and to place city mains along U.S. 61 South.

At about the same time, James T. “Bubba” Rainer, the city’s public works director, said rights-of-way had been acquired from Kansas City Southern Railway and the sewer line would be moved with work possibly beginning in July.

One of the owners, Carr, said Thursday morning that she has seen no work on the railroad’s right of way.

Marcie Southerland, the attorney representing the four property owners, was unavailable for comment, and city attorney Nancy Thomas said she could not comment on ongoing litigation.