KAUKAUNA — Rather than continuing to fight the city of Kaukauna for full reimbursement after a city brush burn went out of control and melted siding on their house, the homeowners have decided to sell.
“We move out of our Kaukauna home tomorrow,” Jaime Schmitt said Tuesday.
Home owners Jaime and Dave Schmitt said after an out-of-control city brush burn May 10 in a vacant lot next to their property on Fieldcrest Drive melted siding on one side of their house, the city admitted fault and sent the claim to the its insurance company.
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However the insurance company said it would only replace the side that was damaged. The Schmitt’s problem is that the siding color is no longer available, which would lead to mismatched siding on her home.
The Schmitt’s say they were able to get a quote of $15,000 to re-side the whole house, but the insurance company is only offering $3,900.
After a one-hour closed session meeting June 20, the city issued a statement saying the claim remains with the liability insurer.
Asked if the city would eventually cover the difference between the insurance claim and the cost to re-side the whole home, a city spokesperson didn’t answer directly but only deferred to its earlier statement.
At this point, Schmitt says she doesn’t think they’ll ever see any of the lost money returned.
“The city’s insurance won’t budge, the city won’t pay and we have an attorney working on getting our insurance to pay because they don’t want to either since they’re not liable,” Schmitt said.
“We gave the new buyer a $15k credit to replace the siding once she moves in.”
Schmitt said they’ll be moving out of Kaukauna.
I’m not impressed with this city and it’s leadership,” she said.
