Peek-A-Boo
Here we go again, when the city or other governmental agencies screw up, and they don’t want to take responsibility, they blame God;
“Then I was told it was an act of God. They looked at it, assumed it was settlement, it was an act of God. Â I was stunned,” Leacraft said.
I wonder what our self-proclaimed best Christian in Sioux Falls, Mayor Huether thinks of this? Maybe we could just paint over the cracks with “Finding Jesus”, that will teach that God guy and his Old Testament ways! I wonder if God also instructed the contractors to not use re-bar in the foundation?
“When we cut the 2 x 4s out, you could take a screw driver and go from the top all the way to the bottom. There was no rebar at all; none,†Leacraft said.
Rebar are metal bars that reinforce concrete to prevent structural failure. While the first report indicated the presence of rebar at the top, bottom and side of the window, a second structural engineer’s report confirms that “the top of the window does not have rebar extending beyond the opening.”
Like our Mayor, God seems to be quite the micro-manager. Besides God fiddling with dirt settlement, and the contractor not using something that about 99.9% of other concrete contractors use in foundations, it seems the city inspectors, once again are asleep on the job;
JJ Concrete’s attorney points out that all of his work passed City inspection.  I asked the City building inspector to try to find out why the problems with the footings weren’t caught on Leacraft’s home in the code inspection before the house was placed on the foundation. Ron Bell, the Chief Building Services Official, told me he couldn’t talk about it because SECOG, insurance companies and attorneys are now involved, but that the city is keeping the line of communication open between all parties.
Besides the fact that Mr. Bell is retiring very soon, his same department is the one that gave the ‘all clear’ on the Events Center siding. No biggee, we got a $1 million dollar settlement on that so we can buy popcorn poppers and beer coolers. I wonder if they are keeping the settlement a secret so not to shame God’s handywork in that debacle also?
Not being an attorney or a building inspector, it looks as though this is a case of poor workmanship, and hopefully the courts and attorneys can work it out, but what are the repercussions for the city for a poor inspection? Another secret settlement? We wouldn’t want to offend God anymore then we already have, there are still a lot of Downtown restaurants he could flood.
City planning and zoning should have inspected at each phase of construction. They should have stopped construction. Guess what? Per ordinance, you can’t sue the city. Apparently, their job is to issue unjustified citations with fines to help pay down the bonds. If you don’t pay, a tough guy called code enforcer shows up and breaks your arms.
I know someone who got hundreds of citations and paid none. He took the city to court and the judge found he had no violations. Planning and zoning only reviews and cites those who conform. Obviously, they can’t recognize when an uninhabitable structure goes up. The Events Center never got an occupancy permit. I won’t go in there. Don’t be surprised if the Aquatics Center wall fails and there’s a sunami southeast toward downtown. Walls are subject to decay, mold, and failure. Cinder block is an unaccepted material near water.
What the hell do you expect with a bunch of idiots or better yet a basket of deplorables at the city engineering office where they make a little over min wage. They didn’t catch code on a third floor window until a toddler fell out they can’t even show up to inspect rebar placement in a foundation. Can you imagine the bridge at grange and 12th with no rebar. Lol
Then there’s the excessive height home built next to another home at McKennon park. Everyone dreamed of living around the park until planning and zoning incompetence ruined real estate value. Augustana Church wants a new sign to replace and resemble their present sign. Unapproved, they forgot to pad someone’s pocket. How about put planning and zoning on a rocket to the moon? Tell them it’s a field trip to approve a Walmart.
Spinner – All of this angst that you and the “Cola cabal (you know who you are) harbor is not healthy. Take some time off, get a hobby or maybe both. Your life is not the City’s fault. Good grief…
I would think that if dirt has been dug up and settled, this is not an “act of God”, but man’s action. So let’s not be disrespectful and leave God out of this one. Put the blame on the inspection process.
The city is Huether’s fault. The council looks the other way because they’re powerless groupies. What’s important about Dacola is it’s historical evidence for how the city went bankrupt. I’m retired with lots of time off. Time I’ll not spend at city hall but in court testifying uncompensated against city corruption.