Langley hit with claim related to 2019 flooding

The claim, filed by Herbert Helsel, requests a total of $73,125 in damages for flooding.

A Langley business owner has filed a tort claim against the city of Langley to recover damages from flooding in a downtown building that happened during a storm in 2019.

The claim, filed by Herbert Helsel, requests a total of $73,125 in damages for flooding at the building, which is located on Second Street and home to a handful of local businesses that were all impacted.

According to the claim documents, on Sept. 7, 2019, stormwater backed up in the catch basins outside the building and breached the curb, flooding 3,500 square feet of retail space with 1 to 3 inches of water.

GHL Enterprises, Whidbey Art Gallery and Langley Clock and Gallery were inundated by the backup of stormwater from the three catch basins on Second Street and one on Frick Lane. Helsel owns the latter business.

Prior to the 2019 incident, flooding occurred two other times at the site, in 2015 and 2017.

City records indicate that the basins had not been cleaned for the three previous years leading up to the 2019 flooding.

According to the claim, Langley was advised years ago that its stormwater drain pipes are “undersized, shallowly sloped, near capacity and require routine inspection and cleaning” and neglected to make the recommended improvements laid out in its 2009 Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan.

In addition, hydrologic modeling determined that the city’s “existing conveyance system does not have the capacity for a 25-year or 100-year rainfall event.”

The claim also alludes to an unfulfilled public records request submitted Dec. 11, 2020 to the city, which asked for capital improvement projects started and completed from 2014 through 2020. The request was referred to Stan Berryman, who was the city’s public works director at the time.

“It has been over 12 months since the City of Langley said they would be in contact with us,” Helsel stated in the claim.

Mayor Scott Chaplin said the city is awaiting a response from the Risk Management Service Agency, or RMSA, which is a risk pool representing cities and towns in the state.

“We are beginning to take a more comprehensive look at all of stormwater management infrastructure, and we may need to do a comprehensive hydrogeologic study in the near future to be able to adequately address the challenges we will be facing due to potentially colder winters and heavier rains,” Chaplin said.